GUTHRIE CENTER, Iowa -- The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto yesterday pushed foreign policy to the U.S. presidential campaign foreground, as candidates of both parties expressed sympathy for the opposition leader while subtly -- and sometimes not so subtly -- capitalizing on the day's violence to portray themselves as reliable leaders in a dangerous world.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has tried to cast herself as the voice of experience in the Democratic field, told a crowd of about 200 packed into a middle-school gym to give their caucus vote to "a president who from Day One will be able to handle the myriad of problems that will be waiting for the next president."

"I have known Benazir for more than 12 years," she told the rural crowd. "She was prime minister when I traveled to Pakistan with [daughter] Chelsea. I stayed in touch over the years, [and] met with her on several occasions."

Earlier in the day, the campaign of her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, released a statement in which he offered a straightforward expression of sympathy. But a senior aide later suggested that the tragedy would refocus attention on Mrs. Clinton's vote to authorize the Iraq war, a decision that David Axelrod, the Obama strategist, said had proven to be a distraction from the fight against the al-Qaida terror network.

After Mr. Obama spoke yesterday morning in Des Moines, according to the web site The Politico, Mr. Axelrod told reporters: "Barack Obama had the judgment to oppose the war in Iraq, and he warned at the time it would divert us from Afghanistan and al-Qaida.

"And now, we see the effect of that," Mr. Alexrod said. "Al-Qaida's resurgent, they're a powerful force now in Pakistan, they may have been involved [in Ms. Bhutto's assassination]. I think his judgment was good. Sen. Clinton made a different judgment, so let's have that discussion."

Clinton aide Phil Singer denounced the observation as an effort to politicize tragedy. "This is a time to be focused on the tragedy of the situation, its implications for the U.S. and the world, and to be concerned for the people of Pakistan and the country's stability. No one should be politicizing this situation with baseless allegations," he told The Politico.

In an interview with Iowa Public Radio, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he had talked with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf after the assassination and urged him in their phone conversation to guarantee an open investigation into the shooting and suicide bombing.

Two Democratic contenders who are Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the panel chairman, and Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, also rushed to react to the death. Mr. Biden bemoaned the tragic news during a Des Moines news conference, while Mr. Dodd issued a statement saying, "This is again another reminder of the experienced leadership our country needs at a time when critical regions around the world are in turmoil."

Republican former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose campaign constantly reminds voters of his experience with terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, domestic attacks, issued a statement calling the Bhutto assassination "a reminder that terrorism anywhere -- whether in New York, London, Tel Aviv or Rawalpindi -- is an enemy of freedom. We must redouble our efforts to win the Terrorists' War on Us."

Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, during a fund-raising swing through Florida, erred in suggesting that Pakistan was still under martial law, which had actually been lifted several weeks ago. It was a relatively minor misstatement about Pakistan's constantly changing political turmoil, but it came from a candidate who has been attacked for his lack of foreign policy expertise.

The slip was reminiscent of an interview Mr. Huckabee gave several weeks ago, when he acknowledged to reporters that he had not heard about the revised U.S. intelligence estimate backing away from a prior assessment that Iran was still actively seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning iconoclast in the GOP field, said Ms. Bhutto's death called into question the basic premises of U.S. policy in the region. "I've complained about the policy with Pakistan for a good many years," he said in a CNN interview. "We've been giving them billions of dollars -- they got about $10 billion over the last eight years -- so we've aligned ourselves with a military dictator who overthrew an elected government.

"Musharraf is seen as one of our puppets. ... So I can see where the support that we've given Musharraf has been indirectly involved in this," Mr. Paul said. "It's a mess."