Obama sorry for 'dumb mistake'

Washington: US democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has called a negative campaign memo targeting the Clinton campaign "sarcastic" and "cheap".

But behind the dust-up, questions are now being raised as to whether Obama is living up to his word to offer a different kind of politics.

Obama staff members secretly circulated a memo targeting senator Hillary Clinton's financial ties to India. The memo referred to her as a democrat representing the Indian state of Punjab and it wound up in the hands of the Clinton campaign, who made it available to news organisations.

The memo highlighted the Clintons' ties with the Indian-American community. Obama blamed his staff for what he calls a "dumb mistake."

”It's not different from any other campaign but he's a different kind of candidate with a different kind of appeal and i think that's the challenge for him,” says democratic strategist Doug Hattaway.

That's because Obama is promoting himself as a politician above the fray. ”We're selling a new kind of politics,” he says.

But that promise of a new kind of politics, say some Indian-American groups, clashes with what they call hurtful stereotyping, especially on the issue of outsourcing.

Obama has apologised and said he was unaware of the memo's contents and that a reference to Clinton representing Punjab was taken from a comment the senator jokingly made in 20-06 at an Indian-American fundraiser.

”I think the Obama campaign would have been in a lot more trouble with this memo if the facts hadn't been accurate. If senator Clinton hadn't said she could have been elected the senator from Punjab,” says Democratic Strategist Jenny Backus.

While Obama distanced himself and blamed his staff, some political observers say he needs to proceed with caution.