Hillary slams Obama 'present' votes on abortion, gun laws

White House hopeful Hillary Clinton sharpened her attacks on Democratic rival Barack Obama on Monday, criticizing him for failing to vote yes or no on a series of abortion and gun-control measures when he was in the Illinois Senate.

Speaking in Iowa, Clinton singled out nine roll calls in which Obama voted "present." The votes dealt with abortion and gun-control initiatives.

"A president can't vote 'present.' A president can't pick and choose which challenges he or she will face," Clinton said.

Obama's campaign shot back at the New York senator, touting his support of abortion rights and a Springfield record that included helping reform the death penalty.

"Barack Obama doesn't need lectures in political courage from someone who followed George Bush to war in Iraq, gave him the benefit of the doubt on Iran, supported NAFTA and opposed ethanol until she decided to run for president," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

One of Obama's "present" votes was on 1999 legislation that would have required teens 15 and older to be tried as adults for firing weapons on or near school grounds. He was among five African-American senators voting present.

"I'm for getting guns off the streets, but I'm not for treating these juveniles as adults," said state Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago), who voted "present" with Obama.

On the abortion bills, legislators who supported women's rights to the procedure were encouraged to vote "present" on bills that would have required parental notice before minors could obtain abortions and that would have barred what abortion foes call "partial-birth" abortions, a leading abortion-rights advocate said. The goal was to entice moderate Republicans and Democrats to also vote present, helping to defeat the bills.

"The poor guy is getting all this heat for a strategy we, the pro-choice community, did," said Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council.