On a conference call with reporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe was asked to comment on Hillary Clinton's new ad hitting Obama on national security experience by posing the question of who voters want to answer the phone in the White House at 3 am when something terrible has happened. Plouffe responded:

"Senator Clinton has already had her red phone moment. It was a decision whether to allow George Bush to invade Iraq, and she answered affirmatively. She did not read the national intelligence estimate, so she didn't do her homework either. She still, curiously, tries to suggest that that was not a vote for war, but it most assuredly was.

So this is about what you say when you answer that phone. What kind of judgment you demonstrate. Barack Obama has shown terrific judgment. He showed obviously good judgment on Iraq, showing the right judgment on what kind of diplomacy we should have. I think increasingly voters see him as someone that they believe as Commander in Chief will keep them safe in terms of the judgment he will display."