Obama Says Clinton Ad Scares Voters

HOUSTON (AP) — Barack Obama is accusing Hillary Rodham Clinton of trying to “scare up votes” in the Democratic presidential race.

Speaking to veterans and their families in Houston, Obama criticized a Clinton campaign ad showing sleeping children and asking who’s most qualified to make an emergency national security call in the middle of the night.

Obama says the U.S. has had its “red phone moment” – the invasion of Iraq. And he says Clinton, along with President Bush and Republican candidate John McCain, gave the wrong answer.

Obama says he’d shift the focus from Iraq to fighting al-Qaida in Afghanistan, saying that’s the kind of judgment he’ll show when he “answers that phone” as president.

Obama says the president’s job is to “keep people safe,” and that means “wisely” deploying the military.

Texas is home to 16 active-duty military bases. The state votes for a presidential nominee on Tuesday.