Hillary Clinton appears to be putting the brakes on Barack Obama's momentum in Texas. According to an exclusive 11 News BELO Texas poll, Clinton and Obama remain in a statistical dead heat, with Clinton ahead by a single point, 46 to 45.

Nine percent of likely voters remain undecided in the Democratic race. Our poll continues to indicate that the undecided voters tend to care more about the economy than voters that have made their pick.

That could be a good sign for Obama, because he leads Clinton among voters who believe the economy is the most important issue in this election.

However, the undecided voters also tend to be more heavily Democratic than those who tell us they have decided - which is good news for Clinton. She is leading among people who describe themselves as strong Democrats.

Most of the trends we have been following held steady between Wednesday and Thursday, when the calls for this tracking poll were made. However, one key indicator for Clinton surged upwards.

Her support among Hispanics has jumped 11 points, to 67 percent to Obama's 27 percent. On Thursday, this number was 61 to 32.

Obama is maintaining his formidable lead among African Americans, at 79 percent to Clinton's 12.

Clinton continues to lead among white voters, 49 percent to 42 percent. The margin of error in our Democratic numbers is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

On the Republican side, it continues to appear that John McCain has little to fear from Mike Huckabee. Our tracking poll continues to show McCain ahead by 32 points, with support of 59 percent of Republican likely voters, to Huckabee's 27. The margin of error in our Republican numbers is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

One interesting item we've been watching is the early vote totals. We've been reporting that more voters have shown up to the polls so far in this election than in any other early vote cycle in Texas history.

About 18 percent of the people we reach in our random phone calls to registered voters tell us they have already voted early. Of the people who have already voted early in the Democratic primary, 58 percent say they have voted for Barack Obama, and 42 percent say they have voted for Hillary Clinton.

Over the weekend, we are going to examine these numbers further as we add new respondent data to our tracking poll. By Monday, we expect to have a demographic snapshot of who voted early - which could give some insight as to whether African American and/or Hispanic turnout is higher or lower than usual in this election.

By Lee McGuire, 11 News, February 29, 2008

HANGING ROCK, Ohio -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, in an emotional townhall with working mothers here on Thursday, said that her rival only wanted to provide health insurance to the women's children -- not the women themselves.

"He has a mandate to cover children; he does not have any requirement for adults," Clinton said afterwards at a news conference with reporters.

It was a sharp dig from Clinton just as her campaign was hoping to turn a corner heading into the March 4 contests here and in Texas. Clinton seemed, for the first time in days, to show new life. Fresh off the news that her campaign had raised $35 million in the last month, Clinton said the fundraising "says a lot" about the condition of her campaign. "Contributions are another way of judging" how much support a candidate has, Clinton said. "When people found out we didn't have the resources to compete, and I did put my own money in, it just set off a chain reaction across the country."

In the midst of a strong thematic push leading up to March 4, Clinton wound her way through the Appalachian edge of Ohio to talk about poverty and the economy -- and to demonstrate her gentler side, which was a factor in helping her win her last surprise victory, in New Hampshire on Jan. 8.

At the townhall in Hanging Rock, Clinton listened as downtrodden voters described their hardships. She introduced two women, a single, 21-year-old mother and an older mother of four, as examples of who would benefit from expanding childcare and healthcare programs. It was part of a forceful, if potentially belated, drive to demonstrate that she was far from pulling out of the contest that included not only the fundraising announcement but also proclamations by the campaign that organizations are up and running in Pennsylvania and Wyoming, which have contests in the weeks ahead.

Her events have been downscaled in recent days, taking place in smaller rooms, with limited and sometimes invitation-only crowds that paled in comparison to the massive mobs that Obama was bringing out to stadium-sized venues. But her campaign advisers said it was by design, giving Clinton a chance to look more personable and connect with people. And she did appear at ease, well within her comfort zone of discussing policies and other people's problems -- rather than her struggling campaign.

At her news conference, Clinton declined to criticize the media coverage of her campaign as she and her advisers have done repeatedly in the past. "I'm going to leave that to you, that's your job," she said, asked what, exactly, she felt the media had failed to ask about Obama. "I'm just saying that I'm running my campaign and that's all I can do; that's all I have any control over."

Late Thursday, Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor reacted to news of Clinton's critique of Obama's health coverage plan. "Senator Clinton knows that anyone who wants health care under Senator Obama's plan will have it, and that his plan does more to cut costs than any other that's been proposed, " he said. "President Clinton's former Secretary of Labor even said that his plan would cover more people than hers. The difference between the two plans is that Senator Clinton would force even those who can't afford health insurance to buy it."

By Anne E. Kornblut, The Washington Post, February 28, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- While Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have spent most of the past two weeks focused on delegate-rich Texas and Ohio, tiny Rhode Island -- with 21 pledged delegates at stake Tuesday -- is reveling in its unaccustomed position of relevance in a Democratic presidential nominating contest.

This state has long been seen as strongly favorable to Clinton. She and her husband, Bill Clinton, visited so often during their White House days that the former president once joked that he ought to pay state taxes. The senator from New York has also lined up the support of most of the state's Democratic establishment, including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who hosted a fundraiser for her last Sunday, and Claiborne Pell, the respected 89-year-old former senator.

The demographics here would also seem to provide an advantage to Clinton -- Rhode Island is heavily blue-collar, working-class and the most Catholic state in the country. White Catholics have provided strong support for Clinton in other New England states.

But if there is any question that the momentum in the race is with Obama, consider the view of Rudy Almada, an electrical inspector who, based on voting so far, should be one of Clinton's most loyal backers.

"I don't know who to vote for," Almada said, shaking his head on a breezy day in Providence's old downtown. "I normally would support Hillary," he said. "She has a serious answer for every question you can come up with. . . . But I want to hear more from Obama."

"Now that he has the country's attention, I want to listen to him," Almada said. "There must be something I'm missing."

Almada will have the chance to hear Obama directly on Saturday. In a testament to the importance being placed on every state and delegate in the hard-fought Democratic contest, the candidate will take time away from Texas and Ohio to stump in this state as well as in Vermont, which will also hold a primary on Tuesday.

Hoping to deal a morale-crippling blow to Clinton, Obama opened an office in Providence a little more than two weeks ago, with 25 paid staffers working out of a prime location on Westminster Street. One of the staffers, communications director Caleb Weaver, came here from Missouri, where Obama was able to eke out a victory by just 10,000 votes on Feb. 5. The team has organized more than two dozen "house parties," recruited several hundred volunteers to work phone banks and is "outspending her three to one on TV here," according to Weaver.

Obama also has his own big-name supporters, particularly Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy and ex-senator Lincoln D. Chafee, a former Republican who became an independent after losing his 2006 reelection bid. Chafee said Obama's early opposition to the Iraq war, coupled with Clinton's vote to authorize the war, is the main reason he is backing the senator from Illinois.

But Obama's supporters are calling Rhode Island a tough state for their candidate. "I think the Obama people are pretty apprehensive. They know what they're up against," said Chafee, now with Brown University. "The Clintons have really invested here. . . . They've been working Rhode Island through their contacts."

Here's a change that Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign really can believe in: There is no chance whatsoever that she will lose to Barack Obama this week.

That's because, after a remorseless march of contests that began 48 hours after the new year dawned, there are no Democratic delegate selection contests until March 4. For a candidate on an 11-game losing streak, a break in the action offers a moment for an exhausted team to regroup and to refocus a strategy that hasn't worked.

The pause before the battles next Tuesday in Ohio and Texas - as well as in Rhode Island and Vermont - hardly represents an automatic Clinton advantage. Time has typically been Mr. Obama's friend, allowing his charismatic presence, grass-roots energy and cash advantage to
overcome her familiarity. Mr. Obama's strategists - and most others, too - see the same pattern emerging as the contests draw closer.

Yet public surveys have not shown Mr. Obama ahead in Ohio or Texas, or in Rhode Island. Clinton aides, meanwhile, cling to their decisive Feb. 5 victory in California as evidence that their candidate remains a commanding force in big states. That leaves everyone else to wonder: Can the primary campaign yield one more momentum-turning surprise?

Clinton's Ace

For Harold Ickes, a Clinton adviser and a Democratic player for decades, the pause presents an opportunity beyond the absence of another defeat. It is a chance to counter Obama campaign techniques that Team Clinton has largely ignored.

"The hiatus is giving us a chance to make deeper penetration with our voter contact," Mr. Ickes said.

In Ohio, that means more time to fortify Mrs. Clinton's blue-collar defenses in Akron and Toledo against onrushing Obama forces - blacks, upscale liberals and, lately, working-class men - in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus. In Texas, it means working the Rio Grande Valley to maximize her margin among Hispanics.

She is deploying the same organizing ace - named Ace Smith, as it happens - who oversaw her nine-point victory in California. There, by two to one, she dominated a Latino constituency that outpaced pre-election estimates by amounting to 30 percent of the voters.

In Texas, both campaigns say, the Hispanic vote could reach 40 percent of the turnout. Capitalizing on early voting procedures tied to satellite polling locations rather than mail-in ballots, Mr. Smith sees dividends already, with early South Texas turnout exceeding that in the Obama strongholds of Austin and Houston.

Mr. Smith minimizes the importance of Mr. Obama's financial superiority in television advertising and direct mail, since Mrs. Clinton is already universally known. More significant, he argues, is her campaign's commitment to compete with Mr. Obama in Texas caucuses far more earnestly than in past caucus fights. Those caucuses occur the same day as the primary and will select about one-third of the state's convention delegates.

"We're going to be highly organized," Mr. Smith said, "and every bit as aggressive as the Obama people."

On to March

Neither Mr. Obama nor his campaign aides lack confidence. While winning every contest this month since Feb. 5, he has overtaken Mrs. Clinton in national Democratic polls and in delegates won.

In other signs of Mr. Obama's strengths, John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, has turned his fire toward him, while news coverage of Mrs. Clinton has turned to internal bickering, strategic mistakes and spending priorities. And David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's strategist, said election returns were "not the only barometer of progress," citing the public conversion of some erstwhile Clinton superdelegates to Mr. Obama.

Obama aides also find reason for optimism while working from behind in Ohio and Texas. Both states allow independents, a constituency that has favored Mr. Obama, to participate in their "open" primaries. With 20 offices in each state, said Steve Hildebrand, an Obama adviser, the campaign can spend extra time leveraging their edge in TV advertising and their organizing advantages through phone banks and canvassing.

Mr. Hildebrand also sees early turnout up across the board, and delegate allocations in Texas could yield extra dividends for Mr. Obama if fellow blacks vote in large numbers. As for Hispanics, Team Obama has more time to court them and has set a goal of 40 percent of that vote, higher than his 32 percent share in California.

Nevertheless, two weeks as the underdog on the brink of elimination could cast Mrs. Clinton in a more sympathetic light. And the lull before March 4 could lower the temperature for the hotter candidate.

"Winning 11 in a row is helpful," Mr. Axelrod said, with each victory giving a little boost. "I'd be lying if I told you we won't miss February."

By Jon Harwood, The New York Times, February 25, 2008

SAN ANTONIO - As recently as two weeks ago, Rudy Davila III, a pharmacist, was part of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's political firewall, the bloc of Hispanic voters from here to the border with Mexico whom she counted on to keep her presidential campaign from collapse. But the firewall is showing signs of cracking.

The Davila family has been doing business in this overwhelmingly Mexican-American city for more than 100 years, beginning with a corner grocery that in four generations has become a $16 million medical supply company. The same neighborhoods that propelled the Davilas' business gave rise to powerful Mexican-American civil rights organizations, whose leaders built a following that has largely remained loyal to the Democratic Party.

It was loyalty to Mrs. Clinton that initially motivated Mr. Davila to support her candidacy. He said that not only had his family's business prospered during Bill Clinton's time in the White House, but that he also saw improvements across the city's impoverished West side.

Mr. Davila's loyalty weakened, however, after Mrs. Clinton began losing primary after primary. Then, after watching the effect Senator Barack Obama had on his community last week, feelings of loyalty were overcome by a sense of pragmatism.

"The lines to get into the plaza went more than a mile," said Mr. Davila, showing photographs his assistant had taken at the Obama rally held less than half a block from his pharmacy. "The crowd was one-third white, one-third black and one-third Latino. I had never seen anything like it in San Antonio. And I knew right then he was the best candidate to defeat the Republicans in November."

Here in the heart of Hispanic Texas, voters like Mr. Davila are being pulled hard from both directions. It is hard to interview a Clinton supporter at a coffee shop or taco joint without next running into someone supporting Mr. Obama. A P.T.A. meeting that started with polite applause during the presentation of the bilingual spelling bee awards ended in prickly political debate.

Recent polls have found the same trend that foiled Mrs. Clinton in her string of recent losses has begun to play out in Texas. Her double-digit lead over Mr. Obama has plummeted to a virtual tie. Mr. Obama has a significant lead over Mrs. Clinton among blacks and white men. His support among white women is about even with hers. And although she still has an advantage among Latinos - an estimated 25 percent of the electorate and some of her most steadfast supporters - that gap has begun to narrow.

With the Texas primary just over a week away, political pundits are reluctant to predict how things would ultimately play out among Texas' Latino voters. Still, there is endless hashing over how Mr. Obama has made considerable gains in such a short time with an electorate whose ties to Mrs. Clinton date to 1972, when she registered voters along the border with Mexico in support of George McGovern.

But today's Hispanic voters are a generally younger, more educated and more affluent electorate than they were two decades ago - qualities that make them impervious to Mrs. Clinton's big-name endorsements.

For Hispanics in South Texas who live along the border, their ties to Mexico are little more than symbolic. Lydia Carrillo of the Southwest Voters Registration and Education Project said that most Hispanics here had been in this country for generations, and that they were just as concerned about issues involving education, the economy and health care as they were about an immigration overhaul.

Veterans groups pointed out that Houston and San Antonio had suffered the second- and third-highest numbers of fatalities from the war in Iraq, after New York, so Mr. Obama's opposition to the war from the beginning resonated strongly here.

"Predicting a winner in the March 4 primary would be foolhardy," wrote Jaime Castillo, a columnist at The San Antonio Express-News. "Hillary's supporters are die-hards, the kind of voters who cast ballots in every Democratic primary. Obama’s backers are energized, but their commitment is untested over the long haul. They are an amalgam of party regulars, young kids, independents and the politically disenchanted."

Other pundits and politicians echoed Mr. Davila, saying heart had less to do with Hispanic voters' choices than hard-headed calculations about which Democratic candidate had the better chance of winning the White House.

"Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have strong platforms," said Representative Charles A. Gonzalez, who has endorsed Mr. Obama. "It may sound clinical, but Hispanic voters, like all voters, not only want someone who speaks to their hearts. Obama is not only the best positioned to win in November, but also to live up to the promise to unite the country."

Those who have managed statewide campaigns in Texas said the state had two important dividing lines: the one that marked the border with Mexico and the one marked by Interstate 10 from El Paso through San Antonio to Houston that divides North Texas from the south. North of the interstate are Texas's prosperous, racially diverse economic capitals. The south is overwhelmingly Hispanic, and poorer, though the region has enjoyed some growth since the North American Free Trade Agreement turned the Rio Grande Valley into one of the most bustling commercial zones in the world.

Political analysts said Mrs. Clinton's base of support had been the south, and they added that she remained stronger than Mr. Obama here. But because of the complicated way Texas selects its presidential nominee - a contest that is part primary and part caucus, and which assigns delegates to state Senate districts according to turnout during the 2004 presidential contest - the regions with the largest numbers of delegates are in the north, where Mr. Obama is expected to receive significant support.

"Texas is more like the South than the West," said Antonio Gonzalez of the Southwest Voters Registration and Education Project. "Institutions, unions, community organizations are weak. Voters are increasingly individualistic. They are not organized on either the left or the right. So a charismatic candidate can come in and run the table."

Nina Perales of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund agreed, saying, "Mrs. Clinton was counting on the old ward captains, and I'm not sure they're really there anymore."

Mrs. Clinton has endorsements from more than 100 Hispanic community leaders, businesspeople and elected officials. She has retained considerable support among Hispanic men. But Mrs. Clinton's staunchest support is from Hispanic women, who see their own struggles in hers.

"I think as a female she'll have more compassion for the elderly," said Mary Louise Arce, 63. "We've become a lost group. Even doctors don't take care of us the way they take care of the young."

Mary Perez, wife, mother of two and president of the 20,000-member student body at San Antonio Community College, served as host to Chelsea Clinton at the campus last week. She said that she identified closely with Hillary Rodham Clinton's drive and determination and that electing a woman would make a much bigger, and better, difference to the country, than electing a black man. And as a mother without medical insurance who said she had occasionally put her own health at serious risk in order to keep the rest of her bills paid, Ms. Perez said universal health care was much more important than affordable health care.

"I blocked out the pain as long as I could," Ms. Perez, 26, said of a recent kidney infection that she waited several weeks to treat. "And then, when I started getting 105-degree fevers, I decided to go to the hospital."

When asked whether she was still paying off the $10,000 bill, Ms. Perez voice cracked, "Yes."

But Mr. Obama has made an aggressive play for some of Mrs. Clinton's southern stronghold, with forays into the Rio Grande Valley to talk to students about his plans to offer tax breaks that would defer the costs of their loans, to veterans about building more military hospitals, and to single mothers about improving public schools.

As has been the case elsewhere, the tight race between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama has produced divided loyalties in Texas.

Mary Olga Montez, a retired military aircraft mechanic, said she had been focused on keeping the peace in her house. In her 53 years of marriage to her husband, Robert, an accountant, she said they had differed on presidential candidates numerous times. But Mrs. Montez typically kept her choice to herself - until this year.

"He kept telling people that both of us were supporting Clinton, so finally, I told him, 'No. I'm supporting Obama,' " recalled Mrs. Montez, 73. "I said, 'We need change. We need something different, new ideas.' "

Mr. Montez, 75, said: "How soon people forget. The Clintons did a lot for African-Americans, for Hispanics, for everybody. Now it seems like everyone's forgotten."

Referring to his wife, he half joked, "Some people, you just want to send them to the corner with a dunce cap on."

When asked whether all the talk of politics had put a strain on their relationship, Mrs. Montez got the last laugh. "I just feed him a good dinner," she said, "and that's the end of that."

By Ginger Thompson, The New York Times, February 25, 2008

Appalachian Ohio Will Get Plenty Of Attention From The Democratic Campaigns This Week


Appalachian Ohio, a rural region struggling with high unemployment and where residents often feel they are ignored by people living in the rest of the state, will get plenty of attention from presidential campaigns this week.

Former president Bill Clinton scheduled a daylong swing through the region Monday on behalf of his wife, whose campaign for the Democratic nomination is looking for crucial victories in the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas.

Hillary Rodham Clinton also planned appearances in the region, home to 1.5 million people scattered over the southern and eastern parts of the state, later in the week.

Although the region traditionally leans Republican, Democrats have made inroads in recent elections, giving the party hope that it can continue to pick up votes outside of Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and other urban areas.

Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat who grew up grew in the Appalachian region, said voters there may determine the outcome of the state's Democratic primary.

"I think the people in Appalachia support people who they think pay attention to them ... who have a genuine empathy for their circumstances," said Strickland, who endorsed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama months ago. "People of Appalachia are common sense kind of folk; I think they're less likely to get caught up in the euphoria and excitement that has surrounded Senator Obama."

Clinton's emphasis on working-class issues such as health care coverage and her history of interest in the region will attract support, Strickland said.

Obama doesn't have a publicly scheduled appearance in the region, but his campaign says he considers it important and has had surrogates working there, including former Bill Clinton campaign manager David Wilhelm, another Appalachian native.

Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig and other members of Obama's foreign policy team planned a town hall meeting Monday in Athens.

Obama has shown increasing strength among voters similar to those who dominate the Appalachian region. In the Wisconsin primary last week, exit polls showed Obama running evenly with Clinton among lower-income, lower-education whites and drawing heavy support from white men without college degrees.

Wilhelm, who has worked to provide venture capital for business investment in the region, said he was impressed by Obama's plans for rural development, including attracting investment, rebuilding small-town infrastructure and promoting sustainable agriculture.

"His potential to be a coalition builder, who can actually bring change about for things that really matter, should impress Appalachian Ohio," Wilhelm said.

In Peeples, about 60 miles east of Cincinnati, residents said they were following the race closely.

Sharon Hamilton, a working mother of four children, said she's seen previous campaign visits to the region by Bill Clinton and by both presidents Bush and wasn't too impressed.

"They come to town and they have all these nice vehicles taking them places," she said. "They could take all the money they're spending on that and help these poor people pay for their prescriptions."

Here in Adams County, unemployment is near 8 percent, and the per capita income of $22,000 is $10,000 below the state average.

Sitting at a diner in nearby Seaman, Judy Alexander said she's backing Clinton.

"I think it's great that she has come forward," Alexander said. "It would be nice to see a lady get in there. I think she could straighten you men out."

Jenny Fenton, a farmer, planned to vote for Obama.

"Just the fact that she's (Clinton) a woman doesn't mean much to me," she said. "He's young, he has energy, he has public appeal. I like the way his ads come across."

Michael McTeague, a political analyst and historian at Ohio University, said the region's voters are traditionalists, and some will have issues with a black candidate and others with a female.

"It's probably breaking new ground for everyone," McTeague said.




Associated Press, February 25, 2008

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton holds a clear lead over rival Barack Obama in Ohio according to three new polls out Monday, though the Illinois senator is gaining ground in the crucial March 4 primary state.

New surveys conducted by Quinnipiac University, the University of Cincinnati, and the American Research Group all show Clinton with roughly a 10 point lead over Obama, with eight days to go until Ohioans head to the polls.

In the Quinnipiac University poll, Clinton leads Obama by 11 points (51- 40 percent). She holds an 8 point lead in the University of Cincinnati poll (47 percent to 39 percent), and a 10 point lead in the American Research Group poll (49 - 39 percent).

While Clinton still holds a lead in Ohio, a Quinnipiac poll released on February 12 showed Clinton with a 21-point lead over Obama, and a Columbus Dispatch Poll released late last month had Clinton up 23 percent there.

After 11 straight Obama wins, the Clinton campaign has said that victories in Ohio and Texas are crucial to the New York senator's White House hopes.

By Alexander Mooney, CNN, February 25, 2008

Detailing a world facing "global poverty, global warming and global health pandemics," and "countries rushing to acquire nuclear weapons," Sen. Hillary Clinton, while not naming Sen. Barack Obama, suggested that electing her top rival would lead to the kind of foreign policy problems she believes have defined the Bush administration.

"We've seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security," Clinton said in a foreign policy speech at George Washington University. "We cannot let that happen again. America has already taken that chance one time too many."

She added, "The American people don't have to assess whether I understand the issues or whether I would need a foreign policy instruction manual to guide me through a crisis."

She did criticize Obama by name while mentioning the Illinois senator's campaign statements that he would meet leaders of rogue countries like North Korea without preconditions and that he would consider an attack on terrorists in Pakistan regardless of whether its leaders approved.

"He wavers from seeming to believe that mediation and meetings without preconditions solves the world's most intractable problems to advocating rash, unilateral military action," Clinton said in front of a crowd of more than 100 in a small room on the university's campus. "In this moment of peril and promise, we need a president who is tested and ready."

Her criticisms of Obama are familiar, although they have grown more pointed in recent days as Clinton views coming primaries in Texas and Ohio as must wins. The speech appeared a preview of a debate on Tuesday in Cleveland, where Clinton has suggested she will take on Obama more directly than in last week's debate in Austin.

By Perry Bacon Jr., The Washington Post, February 25, 2008

PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 24 -- Blasting "companies shamelessly turning their backs on Americans" by shipping jobs overseas and railing that "it is wrong that somebody who makes $50 million on Wall Street pays a lower tax rate than somebody who makes $50,000 a year," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton increasingly sounds like one of her old Democratic rivals, former senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

Eager to recapture the white, working-class voters who favored her in some of the early primaries but who have since shifted to Sen. Barack Obama, Clinton traded her usual wonky style this weekend for a fiery, populist tone in speeches in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island.

Instead of giving precise policy details, she repeatedly pointed her finger skyward, declared that Americans "got shafted under President Bush" and cast herself as a fighter, as Edwards often described himself, promising to help most Americans, not just the "wealthy and the connected."

In an appearance here Sunday afternoon, she mocked Obama's hopeful rhetoric, declaring that it is not the answer to fighting entrenched interests.

"I could stand up here and say, 'Let's just get everybody together, let's get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing, and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect,' " she said, as people cheered and laughed. "You are not going to wave a magic wand and have the special interests disappear."

But her rhetoric did not go unanswered. In trying to reach the same working-class voters, Obama continued to emphasize over the weekend that Clinton was part of the White House that pushed the North American Free Trade Agreement through Congress and highlighted remarks Clinton made in support of the deal.

On Saturday, Clinton charged Obama with sending out a mailer that unfairly quoted her as saying that NAFTA had been a "boon" for America, a word that Obama acknowledged Clinton had not used. But the senator from Illinois kept up his attack on Sunday while speaking to dozens of workers at a gypsum plant in Lorain, Ohio.

"Yesterday, Senator Clinton also said I'm wrong to point out that she once supported NAFTA. But the fact is, she was saying great things about NAFTA until she started running for president. A couple years after it passed, she said NAFTA was a 'free and fair trade agreement' and that it was 'proving its worth.' And in 2004, she said, 'I think, on balance, NAFTA has been good for New York state and America.' "

The senator from New York has tried to distance herself from NAFTA, which is unpopular among workers in manufacturing who believe the deal has contributed to the movement of jobs overseas. In Ohio on Saturday, Clinton argued that while NAFTA "passed" during husband Bill Clinton's administration in 1993, President George H.W. Bush actually "negotiated" the deal. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D), a Clinton backer, told Bloomberg News this weekend that Bill Clinton told him Hillary Clinton had opposed NAFTA in 1993.

In Lorain, Obama blamed NAFTA for the loss of 1 million jobs since 1994, including 50,000 in the Buckeye State, and ridiculed Clinton's efforts to distance herself from the trade deal. "It was her own husband who got NAFTA passed," Obama said. "In her own book, Senator Clinton called NAFTA one of 'Bill's successes' and 'legislative victories.' "

Clinton is trying to assume the populist mantle of Edwards -- whom she described in December as "screaming," in his critiques of special interests -- with March 4 looming as the decisive day for her candidacy. Four states will vote that day, but Bill Clinton, among others, has said that his wife must win the two largest -- Ohio and Texas -- to continue her campaign.

Her campaign aides say wooing both working-class voters and middle-income people concerned about the economy is crucial, particularly in Ohio.

"These are the voters who are up for grabs," said Doug Hattaway, a Clinton adviser.

During the campaign, Clinton has often criticized trade agreements and the movement of jobs overseas. Over the weekend, she adopted a far more pointed tone and spent a lot of time emphasizing her populist message, reducing mentions of issues such as balancing the budget that have been standard in her speeches. She spent less time on the intricacies of her health-care plan and her proposal to withdraw troops from Iraq, heeding advice from aides who have urged her to speak in broader terms.

Clinton is seeking to get past the loss of 11 straight contests to Obama and to shore up the support of groups that have been key to her candidacy. In the states where she has performed strongly, Clinton has won among households with less than $50,000 in income, among people without college degrees and among families with at least one member in a labor union. But in last week's primary in Wisconsin, she lost all three groups.

White, working-class men, in particular, are a key voting bloc in a race where blacks have overwhelmingly supported Obama and white women have backed Clinton. A Washington Post-ABC News poll last week showed Clinton leading overall in Ohio, where she led among white men, while the candidates were tied in Texas, where Obama had an advantage among white men.

James Rivard, a Cleveland technician who was polled and whose family makes less than $50,000, said he is leaning toward Obama but wants to hear more about the economy. "My income has been stagnant for like 12 years now, but my expenses have continued to go up, while all of this capital is leaving the country every year," he said.

Edwards's campaigns in 2004 and 2008 targeted working-class voters, and both Obama and Clinton have adopted some of his language about the plight of low-income voters as they seek to win over the group. In the weeks since Edwards dropped out of the race, Clinton and Obama have enthusiastically courted his endorsement and noted their support for reducing poverty, one of the key planks of his candidacy.

At a debate Thursday night in Austin, Clinton closed with a statement similar to one Edwards often used.

"Whatever happens, we're going to be fine. . . . I just hope that we'll be able to say the same thing about the American people, and that's what this election should be about," she said.

At a Dec. 13 debate, Edwards said: "All of us are going to be just fine, no matter what happens in this election. But what's at stake is whether America is going to be fine."

By Perry Bacon Jr. and Alec MacGillis, The Washington Post, February 25, 2008

Clinton appeared before an audience of about 300 at George Washington University in a low-key appearance that contrasted with Obama's boisterous rallies. She was flanked by six retired military officials.

In a detailed 30-minute review of her plans for U.S. diplomacy that would "deploy both the olive branch and the arrows," Clinton took several shots at her rival. Obama has won 11 straight presidential contests, and new polls in Ohio and Texas show him surging in those states in advance of primaries there next week.

The New York senator criticized her Illinois colleague for his vow to meet U.S. adversaries without conditions. "I will not be penciling in the leaders of Iran or North Korea or Venezuela or Cuba on the presidential calendar without preconditions," she said.

Clinton also tacitly likened Obama to President Bush. "We've seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy," she said.

Clinton supporters echoed the theme of experience over Obama's eloquence. "We need a president who has already walked the walk in addition to talking the talk," said Togo West, a former secretary of the Army. Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said he respects Obama, his former Harvard classmate, but believes Clinton "has the experience" to be president.

Clinton's appearance here came as Obama won the endorsement of Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory before a rally that drew about 13,000 at the University of Cincinnati.

Clinton adviser Harold Ickes raised the possibility that losses on March 4 might spell the end of the campaign. "If we lose Texas and Ohio, Mrs. Clinton will have to make her decision as to whether she goes forward," he said.

The two campaigns exchanged angry words after blogger Matt Drudge reported that Clinton aides were circulating a photo of Obama dressed in traditional Kenyan garb and a turban during a 2006 visit to that country, his father's homeland. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe accused the aides of "shameful, offensive fear-mongering."

Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams charged the Obama side with "an obvious and transparent attempt" to detract from "serious issues."

By Kathy Kiely, USA TODAY, February 25, 2008

WASHINGTON - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to portray herself as the strongest candidate on foreign policy in a speech Monday afternoon, telling an audience that she was "tested and ready" to be commander in chief.

She sharply criticized Senator Barack Obama, who she said seemed to believe "that mediation and meetings without preconditions will solve some of the world's most intractable problems."

"With me this is not theoretical," Mrs. Clinton said, speaking to a small group of supporters at George Washington University. "This is very much who I am, what I have done, and what I will do. The American people don't have to guess whether I understand the issues or whether I would need a foreign policy manual to guide me through."

To bolster her case, Mrs. Clinton stood on stage with a half-dozen retired military officials, including Gen. Wesley Clark, who introduced her. "I'm convinced that when the going gets tough, Hillary Clinton will never let America down," Mr. Clark said.

Mrs. Clinton pointed to her time in the Senate and in the White House as first lady as evidence that she was the candidate most knowledgeable and prepared for the presidency.

"Electing a president should not be an either-or proposition when it comes to national security," she said. "We need a president who knows how to deploy both the olive branch and the arrows, who will be ready to act swiftly and decisively in a crisis."

At the Democratic debate last week in Austin, Tex., Mr. Obama defended his proposals to meet with foreign leaders - even dictators like Fidel Castro's successor - with what he termed having the appropriate preparations made.

The two meet Tuesday night in Cleveland for another debate.

At a fundraiser Sunday night in Boston, Mrs. Clinton told supporters that in the coming days, she planned to highlight what she called "the experience gap" between her and Mr. Obama. The candidates are a week away from the pivotal next round of nominating contests in Ohio and Texas; Rhode Island and Vermont also will hold primaries on March 4.

In her speech, Mrs. Clinton also criticized President Bush for what she called "cowboy diplomacy," a line she uses frequently on the campaign trail. "We've seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security," she said. "We can't let that happen again."

By Julie Bosman, The New York Times, February 25, 2008

Hillary Clinton set to appear, along with industry leaders

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton will join energy and environmental luminaries in Houston on Thursday at a summit to tackle the bedeviling issue of energy security.

While scheduled just days before the crucial March 4 primary in Texas, the event - called America's Energy Future: Houston's Presidential Summit - at the George R. Brown Convention Center won't be the dramatic, potentially decisive encounter between the top candidates the sponsoring Greater Houston Partnership once envisioned.

Clinton is the sole presidential hopeful scheduled to attend the event. The New York senator will cap off a forum featuring top executives addressing topics such as energy supply, conservation and renewable energy sources.

"Houston rightly needs to be recognized as a center for thought for energy policy," partnership President Jeff Moseley said.

Confirmed speakers or panelists include Marathon Oil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Clarence Cazalot Jr.; Shell Oil Co. CEO John Hofmeister; Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope; Mayor Bill White; and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher.

Clinton is scheduled to speak for 40 minutes, starting at 6 p.m. The cable network MSNBC plans to air at least part of her appearance.

Prodded by the Clinton campaign to open up the forum to voters who might not be able to afford tickets costing as much as $750 apiece, member companies of the partnership are donating 500 to 1,000 tickets for voters interested in attending Clinton's speech.

"The partnership has been incredibly helpful and gracious to allow us to invite members of the general public to our event," said Adrienne Elrod, a spokeswoman for the Clinton campaign.

Partnership officials were still working out the details Monday as to how the free tickets will be distributed.

Houston's business community has been trying since last summer to lure the candidates to Houston to discuss what many industry leaders describe as an incoherent energy strategy at a time when oil is trading near $100 a barrel and gasoline prices are averaging more than $3 a gallon,

"My goodness, what a mess we're in when it comes to energy security," Shell's Hofmeister said recently.

Short-term needs

On the campaign trail, the candidates have talked at length about approaches to solving the nation's energy problems for the longer term, Hofmeister said. But there's been an absence of "conversations about short-term solutions, namely oil and gas."

Clinton is the only presidential candidate now planning to participate in the summit.

Rival Democrat Barack Obama will be campaigning in Texas this week, but the Illinois senator's schedule does not include a stop at the partnership event.

On the Republican side, John McCain and Mike Huckabee have declined, and Rep. Ron Paul of Lake Jackson backed out last week.

Initially, partnership officials scheduled their forum for November. MSNBC promised to air the event. Organizers believed they had attracted Clinton, then the perceived Democratic front-runner.

But with the front-loaded caucus and primary schedule, organizers were unable to persuade the candidates to take time out of campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire.

So partnership officials decided to delay their event until this week, in hopes the candidates would be more willing to come to Houston as the Texas primary drew near.

As McCain emerged as the clear front-runner in the Republican race, partnership officials focused their attention on attracting Clinton and Obama to face off in what they hoped would be must-watch television.

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and NBC Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert had committed to moderate the event.

Agreed to two debates

As voters were going to the polls on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, Clinton challenged Obama to meet her in a series of debates ahead of the March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, including the Houston forum.

But Obama agreed to participate in only two debates. And he picked the locations - Austin for a debate last week and Cleveland for one scheduled for today. Ohio also has its primary March 4.

"There's been a lot of jockeying ... about where the debates should be held," the partnership's Moseley said. "In Texas, Austin was seen as a preferred site for Sen. Obama."

When the hoped-for debate died, Williams and Russert decided not to attend.

Partnership officials have sold about 1,000 tickets for the event and have room for 2,000.

Tickets for the daylong forum cost $750 a head, or $450 for workers whose employers are members of the partnership. Its officials said the forum was directed toward business leaders.

But potential participants including Leslie Schulman, a 25-year-old law school student at the University of Houston, argued charging such hefty fees would give the forum an "elitist feel."

She warned that would turn off young voters in particular.

Late Monday, organizers said member companies of the partnership who are helping to underwrite the event have offered to donate the 500 to 1,000 tickets for voters who want to hear Clinton - or one of the other presidential hopefuls if another candidate signs on at the last minute.

Jennifer Graves, a 34-year-old Houston sales representative and still-undecided voter who had inquired about the conference, applauded that new effort.

If attendance had been limited to those who could afford pricey tickets, she said, "I don't think that would have been received well."

By DAVID IVANOVICH, Houston Chronicle, February 25, 2008

Hillary Clinton held a rally in Columbus earlier in February full of high energy and excitement; this time around she chose to have a more personal discussion with voters. The presidential hopeful invited four Ohio citizens she met along the campaign trail to facilitate a discussion of how she plans to fix the nation's dwindling economy.

"These people represent the stories of Ohio," Clinton said. "The challenges we face, but also the opportunities we would have if we had a president who cared about Ohio."

Clinton spoke Friday at Columbus State Community College in a town hall forum titled "Solutions for the American Economy." Close to 350 voters filed into the Center for Workforce Development ballroom to listen to Clinton's guests share their stories of sustainable energy, the Iraq war and health care. Audience members asked Clinton their own questions about health care, home foreclosures and the public school system.

Sustainable energy was a big topic for two of the guest speakers. Jason White, 29, told the audience about how his education in construction management from Columbus State gave him the chance to work with a company on rebuilding schools with energy efficient materials.

"We're going green in the new millennia," White said. "Over 50 percent of a school is recycled when we rebuild them."

Tom Robbins, a faculty member at Columbus State, shared information about the school's new Program of Sustainable Design. The program has been running for two years and is comprised of students studying architecture, manufacturing and construction management.

"We are trying to educate people into an awareness of sustainable energies," Robbins said.

Ohio State students who attended the forum said they were all very impressed with Clinton's performance.

"Her connection was great in the small setting," said Chris Skovron, a freshman in political science. "I wasn't convinced about her until her rally at OSU. I saw the humanity in her."

As the March 4 Ohio primary approaches, students are taking clear stances on who they support for the Democratic nomination. Some students who came to the discussion said they would have a hard time even thinking about voting for Barack Obama if he wins the nomination.

"I would have to consider it," said Richard Crouse, a sophomore in French. "I don't trust him like I trust her."

David Cross, a sophomore in political science, said it is not an easy choice. "I will support Obama if he is the nominee, but he is not as qualified as Hillary. We need someone qualified."

Students at the forum named health care and the Iraq War as the issues of most importance to them.




By Billy Ashley, The Lantern, February 25, 2008

Democrat Hillary Clinton said today she is the only candidate in the presidential race who will be able to reverse President George W. Bush's foreign policy and warned that the U.S. can't gamble on putting the White House in inexperienced hands.

Without mentioning rival Barack Obama by name, Clinton said the country can't afford to repeat the last seven years under the Republican president.

"We have seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience or the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our nation,'' Clinton said in a speech today in Washington. "America has already taken that chance one time too many.''

The New York senator is trying to regain her footing in the Democratic nomination race by emphasizing her experience as a senator and first lady, arguing that makes her better prepared for the presidency than Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois.

The two, who are competing March 4 in primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont, also kept up their sparring over trade and past statements about the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trade figures to be a major issue in Ohio, where manufacturing jobs have declined 23 percent since December 2000. Clinton is counting on wins there and in Texas to keep her campaign going after 11 consecutive losses to Obama.

Obama in Ohio

Obama, 46, campaigned today in Cincinnati and talked about the economy, trade and health care.

While he didn't directly respond to Clinton, his aides released a statement from an adviser, retired Major General J. Scott Gration, calling it "ironic'' that Clinton compared Obama to Bush "when she voted to authorize the war in Iraq, supports the Bush policy of not talking to leaders we don't like, and gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran and Pakistan.''

In Washington, Clinton said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, changes in Cuba, Kosovo's declaration of independence and other recent events demonstrate "how essential it is we have sound strategy and sound leadership.''

"The American people don't have to guess whether I understand the issues,'' she said. The U.S. faces many dangers as well as "unprecedented opportunities,'' Clinton, 60, said, "if we have the right leadership.''

Meeting With Adversaries

Clinton criticized Obama's positions while mentioning him only near the end of her remarks. She referred to his past statements that he would meet with U.S. adversaries such as the leaders of Iran and Venezuela without conditions and would consider unilateral military action against terrorist hideouts in Pakistan.

"He wavers from seeming to believe that mediation and meetings without preconditions can solve some of the world's most intractable problems, to advocating rash, unilateral military action without cooperation from our allies in the most sensitive region of the world,'' Clinton said.

Clinton also tied trade to national security, saying a "level playing field'' for U.S. workers and companies "has direct and serious implications for our capacity to operate effectively on behalf of our strategic interests in the world.''

Clinton Mailer

Her campaign released a mailer being sent to voters in Ohio citing news articles from Obama's Senate campaign in which he said the U.S. should continue working with the World Trade Organization and pursue free-trade accords such as Nafta.

"In 2004 Senator Obama was quoted or was reported to have said very positive things about Nafta,'' Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said on a conference call.

Obama's campaign said the passages cited by Clinton's mailer don't accurately portray his position.

"This idea that Barack Obama's position on Nafta isn't clear is nonsense,'' Bruce Raynor, general president of labor union federation Unite Here, said on a conference call.

Obama told about 11,000 people at a rally today in Cincinnati that the U.S. must have a "trade system that is free and fair.''

Obama's aides say Clinton has shifted from supporting the treaty to criticizing it since becoming a presidential candidate. Clinton and Obama both have promised to revise Nafta to include tougher labor and environmental standards.

Wolfson said Clinton is on record as far back as 2000 as being critical of Nafta, which was approved in 1994 while Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, was president. Some union leaders blame the accord for job losses.

Clinton Memoir

In her memoir, "Living History,'' Clinton wrote that Nafta was one of her husband's "successes'' and that creating a free- trade zone for the hemisphere would "ensure that our economy was reaping the benefits, not the burdens, of globalization.''

Clinton needs victories in Ohio and Texas, with a total of 334 pledged delegates available, to blunt some of Obama's momentum in the presidential nomination race.

He has the edge among pledged delegates nationwide, with 1,124.5 to Clinton's 1,006.5, according to unofficial estimates by The Green Papers, a nonpartisan Web site.

The totals don't include the 795 so-called superdelegates, Democratic Party officials and officeholders who aren't bound by election results and have tilted toward Clinton. A candidate needs 2,025 votes at the party convention to become the nominee.

By Christopher Stern and Julianna Goldman, Bloomberg, February 25, 2008

Even in the reddest counties in a deep red state, Texans are streaming to vote in the Democratic primary at double and sometimes triple the number voting in the Republican primary.

Early vote tallies compiled since Tuesday - the day early voting opened for the March 4 primary - show huge numbers of suburban voters turning up to vote Democrat. Texas suburbs have long been Republican strongholds, but the numbers indicate a huge shift.

You can probably chalk that up to the excitement generated by the Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But if - capital "I," capital "F" - Texas Democrats hold onto those votes in November, they have the best chance in years to come back from the wilderness they've been mapping since the mid-'90s. It's IF because the party's organization has been in tatters, its bench isn't deep - and if the party has a clear, coherent message, I haven't heard it.

Big Democratic turnouts in Travis County are to be expected, but the early votes so far are record breaking - 23,132 as of Thursday - making any number of local races difficult to handicap because the big turnouts dilute the influence of the Democratic in crowd.

Where the Democratic surge is truly impressive is in the suburbs that were once the exclusive property of Republicans. In Collin County, at the heart of the Metroplex - a heavily Republican area - county officials recorded the Democratic turnout at 5,021 early voters as of Thursday. That represented an increase of 4,294 early votes in the 2006 Democratic primary.

A wow would be in order here.

That kind of increase can't be explained away as Republicans crossing over to pick a Democrat they'd most like to run against. That's indication that people want change, confirmation of the runaway success Sen. Barack Obama has found by promising change.

Which brings us to the Texas Legislature. A big turnover in the Legislature might cause Republicans to quit yelling about who can and can't legally marry and whether our family trees shelter monkeys and address the issues facing a growing state. Our prospects are pinned to nurturing an educated, healthy and productive citizenry. Social issues aren't playing well in the presidential race, but economic equity issues are.

It is way too early to make November predictions, but those numbers should worry Republican officeholders looking to retain their posts or move up in 2010 when Texans will choose a slew of statewide offices, starting with governor. There might even be a U.S. Senate race in the mix if Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican, finally decides to run for governor.

A strong showing by Texas Democrats in November holds the promise of rebuilding a financial and political base. With few statewide offices up on the November ballot, what does a strong showing look like?

Success, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, but I'd say even a modest gain in the Texas House would be a big show of strength. Picking up a statewide judgeship will lift party morale but won't do Democrats much good politically. Judges are barred from most partisan political activity, and their ability to raise money is heavily restricted.

That means winning legislative seats. Democrats are five seats away from a House majority. Picking up even three seats would embolden GOP challengers to Speaker Tom Craddick, R-Midland, If voters stampeding to vote in the Democratic primary stick with the party in November, they could do even better than three.

If so, Democrats will become increasingly attractive to big donors who were ducking phone calls only two years ago. But if there isn't a strong lineup of talent to put those dollars to work effectively, then nothing will change.

That's all promise right now, and even if it comes true, Democrats still won't have a statewide platform to audition talent for governor and lieutenant governor.

Some of the candidates we've been interviewing for the past month and a half indicated that Democrats don't have a good handle on their prospects this year. Two statewide candidates recounted conversations they had with party people who foresaw them running into the GOP buzz saw. In 2007, it might have been difficult to foresee the excitement of the hard-fought race for the presidential nomination in 2008.

The suburban numbers indicate that Democrats have an advantage offered up by the former Texas governor turned president.

Ironically, it was George W. Bush who led Texas Democrats into the wilderness, and George W. Bush fatigue could lead them out.

By Arnold Garcia Jr., The Statesman, February 25, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hillary Clinton on Monday accused China of paying back the United States for a landmark trade deal with "tainted fish and lead-laced toys and poison pet food."

The New York senator warned in a major foreign policy address that China's trade and currency policies were punishing US workers, and hammered President George W. Bush's policies towards the communist giant.

Risking another row with Beijing, which accused her in November of slandering its manufacturers, Clinton said China "has become a global superpower that needs to be convinced to play by the rules in the global marketplace."

"Over the course of the last seven years, Bush policies have allowed the Chinese government to become our banker," Clinton said in a speech at George Washington University here.

"Today, China's steel comes here and our jobs go there. We play by the rules and they manipulate their currency," she said in remarks apparently aimed at the economically distressed state of Ohio which holds a crucial primary vote March 4.

"We get tainted fish and lead-laced toys and poison pet food in return. that will change when I am in the White House," she said, recalling several product safety scares surrounding Chinese-made goods last year.

Clinton's remarks appeared to be a reference to the aftermath of the US decision in 2000 to grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to China, a policy backed by the administration of her husband ex-president Bill Clinton.

The move ended the annual review of US trade ties for Beijing and speeded China's entry into the World Trade Organization.

It was not the first time that Clinton had adopted populist anti-China rhetoric in her campaign.

In November, the Chinese government accused her of "slander" after she had warned of a tide of dangerous Chinese-made Christmas gifts.

"China bashing" has been a staple of past US campaigns but the candidate that wins the presidency often tempers the rhetoric as geopolitical concerns take on more importance once the White House is secured.

Populist anti-trade rows have risen to the top of the 2008 Democratic presidential race, as Clinton tries to revive her flagging campaign in Ohio and Texas, which also votes on March 4 in a nominating showdown her campaign admits she must win.

Surging Barack Obama has targeted the former first lady over her past support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) enacted by her husband's administration, which unions say has driven millions of US manufacturing jobs overseas.

Clinton says NAFTA has failed to deliver on its promises, but Obama says the trade issue exposes her poor judgement, as does her vote to authorize the war in Iraq.

AFP, February 25, 2008

WACO, Texas (AP) - Recasting what would keep her campaign alive, Hillary Rodham Clinton's advisers said Friday that if rival Barack Obama loses any of Tuesday's four presidential primaries, it would show Democrats are having second thoughts about him.

In an e-mail and conference call to reporters, Clinton's campaign sought to raise the stakes for the Illinois senator in next week's primaries and also laid the groundwork to keep her campaign alive if the results are disappointing.

Obama heads into Tuesday's primaries in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont riding a streak of 11 consecutive primary and caucus wins and leading the former first lady in the popular vote, committed delegates and fundraising.

In the conference call, senior Clinton strategist Howard Wolfson seized on those facts to reshape expectations about the Democratic contest.

"They are outspending us at least two to one in Ohio and Texas," Wolfson said. "If they are unable to win these states, it sends a very clear signal that Democrats want this campaign to continue. Obama has every advantage going into this election. If Senator Obama is in fact the de facto nominee, he ought to win all four."

A loss for Obama in even one of the four states Tuesday would indicate Democrats have developed a case of "buyer's remorse," Wolfson said. "It would show that Senator Obama is having trouble closing the deal with Democrats."

As recently as Feb. 20, Clinton's husband, former President Clinton, was singing a different tune about what it would take to keep her candidacy afloat beyond Tuesday.

"If she wins in Texas and Ohio, I think she'll be the nominee," the former president told a Beaumont, Texas, audience. "If you don't deliver for her, I don't think she can be."

Bill Clinton's assertion that his wife must win both Texas and Ohio to keep her campaign alive reflects a widely held view among political analysts.

Polls now give her a modest lead in Ohio and show Texas is a toss-up; earlier she had large leads in both states.

The New York senator campaigned with a backdrop of military leaders Friday in Texas, which has a large military presence.

She's spending all day Sunday rumbling across Ohio and plans to stump there again Monday morning. Clinton will then return to Texas for a televised town hall meeting, and she's purchased time to broadcast it across the state.

Her aides said no decision had been made on where to spend election night, but most betting was on Ohio, where the polls are more favorable.

Obama has announced he'll spend Tuesday night in Texas, one of the biggest prizes of the campaign. A win in Texas would allow him to counter the Clinton campaign's argument that although he's won more states, she's carried the big states like California, New York and New Jersey.

Clinton closed her campaign with a noisy rally before about 4,000 people in San Antonio, a high-energy event aimed at boosting voter turnout in Tuesday's primary. Aiding her effort, Clinton appeared with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, elected largely with the backing of Hispanics.

He's one of a series of high-profile surrogates flooding the key primary states on the final weekend, building on a network of an estimated 40,000 campaign volunteers.

"I am not offering just speeches, though speeches are fine," said Clinton, returning to her core theme of experience. "I am offering 21st century solutions that address the problems we face."

"When the crises come, and they do, we need a commander in chief ready to make the tough decisions," she said.

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press, February 29, 2008

Shifting Campaign Tone Reveals Internal Debate Over How to Wage the Battle

Heading out of last week's debate and into the final week of campaigning before the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas, which have become must-wins for Hillary Clinton, the New York senator has taken to mocking her Democratic rival's oratory.

"Let's just get everybody together. Let's get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know that the world is perfect," Clinton said in Rhode Island Sunday, belittling Obama's soaring oratory.

It's the latest in three distinct tones Clinton has used about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the last few days. On Thursday, she almost hugged him, taking his hand on the debate stage as she emphasized, "I am honored to be on the stage with Barack Obama."

On Saturday, she berated him over two mailings circulated by his campaign that she said created division within the Democratic Party that misrepresented her views on the North American Free Trade Agreement and health care.

"Shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That is what I expect from you."

Appearing frustrated - if not furious - Clinton clutched the two Obama campaign fliers during a news conference in Cincinnati and challenged her party rival to a Ohio debate.

"Enough of the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook," she said. "This is wrong, and every Democrat ought to be outraged."

NAFTA hits a particular note among union voters in Ohio: Union households, one of former President Clinton's major legacies, make up a quarter of the state's Democratic voters and say the free trade agreement cost them jobs.

Clinton's shifting tone may symbolize internal tensions within the campaign as to how to wage the fight this week amid headlines speculating depressed Clinton staffers and the New York senator's exit from the race for the Democratic nomination if she doesn't win those contests.

Obama tried to shrug off Clinton's attacks last night in Toledo.

"She said, 'well, you know it's just an illusion, it's a delusion to think that somehow you're just going to wish all the special interest power in Washington away.' Well, she's right about that but it doesn't help if you take a million dollars ... from lobbyists for the special interests," Obama said.

Playing his part on the trail, Bill Clinton is working his heart out. The former president held six events Saturday - more than anyone else actually running for president - ready to shake every hand in Texas while defending his wife.

"The obvious bias of the pundits dancing on Hillary's grave. It's the only dance they know," he said.

The former president will campaign in Ohio today while his wife delivers a major foreign policy address in Washington, D.C., trying to drive home the point that she is ready to be commander in chief in a troubled world, while Obama is not.




By JAKE TAPPER, ABC News, February 25, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Fighting to survive, Hillary Rodham Clinton is counting on female power to energize her faltering presidential bid.

She's hoping a double-digit lead among women in Ohio is the answer.

"I am thrilled to be running to be the first woman president, which I think would be a sea change in our country and around the world," the New York senator said this week in Cleveland, emphasizing anew the pioneering aspect of her candidacy.

A woman in the White House, Clinton said, would present "a real challenge to the way things have been done, and who gets to do them and what the rules are."

The remarks had a call-to-action flair and underscored just how much she is relying on women, always a key part of her support, to help her win Ohio and, perhaps, Texas on Tuesday as she seeks to get back on track in the Democratic nomination fight.

She has urgent reason to prod the sisterhood into action.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has racked up 11 straight wins to lead the convention delegate hunt. Clinton hasn't won a primary in a month and is looking for big-state victories to breathe new life into her campaign.

Clinton leads in Ohio in recent polling, while Obama has a slight edge in Texas.

Women may hold the key for Clinton, particularly in the Midwestern state. Polls in the past week have shown her with a wide advantage - 17 percentage points in one poll, 18 in another - among Ohio women. She also leads among Texas women, but the margin is slimmer.

"If Hillary is going to regain the front-runner status and win the nomination, it starts with and ends with women," said Jenny Backus, a Democratic strategist who is not aligned with either candidate. "She has struck a chord with women, especially in Ohio."

On Thursday, Clinton stopped at a Bob Evans Restaurant in Rio Grande, Ohio, and made a bee line for the counter and the all-female wait staff. She posed for pictures, arms around them for a photo op worthy of the "Nine to Five" song that often is featured at her events. "I've waited tables before," she told them. "That was when I was much younger."

Ohio Democrats say women here admire her for the barriers she has broken and the troubles she had overcome. That good will, they say, coupled with the support of popular Gov. Ted Strickland and her jobs-focused economic message, has resonated with women across economic lines, education levels and ages.

The conquering-obstacles element is a theme Clinton embraced during a debate in Austin, Texas, last week, when she appeared to allude to her husband's infidelity.

Asked to describe a moment that tested her the most, she said: "Well, I think everybody here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life." The audience clapped knowingly.

Margie Bennett, 44, a laid-off accountant from Zanesville, calls herself a feminist but says she's been a Clinton fan for years because of who the senator is, not because she's a woman.

"She's a tough fighter. She's been through a lot. And, she's the best candidate," Bennett said after a Clinton-led economic round-table this week.

That sounded much like the rationale Kay Israel, 67, gave minutes earlier. "I respect Hillary's strengths as far as overcoming obstacles against all odds," the teacher from Zanesville said. "I admire her effort to make history. She's smart. She's educated. She knows the issues."

Kelly Adams, 24 and a college financial aide adviser, cited Clinton's push for universal health care and her promise to bring jobs to Ohio as the main reasons she's lending her support. Also, she added: "I like the strength that she's shown and her work as first lady."

Many women backing Obama praise Clinton's strides as a woman, too, but they say that's not reason enough to vote for her.

"I would love to see a woman in the White House. I just don't think she's the right woman," said Ruth Ziegler, 51, a high school teacher from Newark as she waited for Obama to take the stage at Ohio State University on Wednesday. "It's about winning and I really don't think she can win against the Republicans."

Her friend and fellow teacher, Linda LaRue, 54 and also of Newark, seconded those sentiments and added: "His passion speaks to me. He excites people. She just doesn't inspire."

It's not surprising that women have been a primary constituency for the woman with the best chance in history to break through the highest of glass ceilings.

"If she can put the combination together for women that she understands their lives while also representing change, she's got a lot going on there. It completely works," said Page Gardner, the president of a group - Women's Voices. Women Vote Action Fund - working to encourage unmarried women to participate in the political process.

While Clinton has been strong throughout the campaign among white and Hispanic women, black women overwhelmingly support Obama.

She often includes him in referring to the unprecedented character of the Democratic contest: "I believe strongly that the fact that we have an African-American and a woman running for the Democratic nomination is historical and I'm very, very proud of that."

In recent weeks, Obama has made inroads into Clinton's overall hold on female voters.

Before primary voting began, Clinton had an enormous lead over him among all women. An AP-Ipsos poll in December showed her with 52 percent support to 19 percent for him.

Exit polls for the AP and television networks from 22 Democratic primaries where the candidates have competed showed her with a slimmer lead among women, 51 percent to 45 percent.

The apparent erosion was acute in the most recent primaries where exit polling was conducted. Obama won among women in the Louisiana, Maryland and Virginia primaries, while the two candidates tied most recently in Wisconsin.

As she campaigns, Clinton tries to strike a balance. She often tells audiences that while she's proud to be running as a woman, she should be elected because she's the best candidate and not because of her gender.

Still, at pivotal times, she has campaigned alongside daughter Chelsea and mother Dorothy Rodham, and invoked an us-versus-them pitch.

"In so many ways, this all-women's college prepared me to compete in the all-boys club of presidential politics," she said in November at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, speaking about the challenges of being a woman in a campaign environment that men long have dominated.

The candidate has, however, struggled with just how much of her femininity to show.

After women turned away from her in Iowa, Clinton grew emotional days before the New Hampshire primary.

"This is very personal for me," she said, adding, "Some of us are right, and some of us are not. Some of us are ready, and some of us are not."

That moment of humility has been credited with helping her win back women who ultimately brought her victory in New Hampshire.

She hopes they deliver again Tuesday.

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press, February 28, 2008

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - She's reminded of it all the time around here, so Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton couldn't have been surprised when her failed 2000 campaign promise to bring 200,000 jobs to economically desperate upstate New York became part of the latest presidential debate.

In her first term in the Senate, the region saw a net loss of 26,500 jobs, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics by the Business Council of New York State.

"All one has to do is listen to talk radio to know that's on a lot of people's minds," said Kevin Hardwick, a political science professor at Canisius College in Buffalo.

Clinton recently called the promise "a little exuberant." During Tuesday's debate with Barack Obama, the New York senator said she was figuring Al Gore would be in the White House.

"When I made the pledge, I was counting on having a Democratic White House, a Democratic president, who shared my values about what we needed to do to make the economy work for everyone and to create shared prosperity," she said.

"And as you know, despite the difficulties of the Bush administration and a Republican Congress for six years of my first term, I have worked very hard to create jobs, but obviously as president I will have a lot more tools at my disposal," she said.

The failed 200,000 number got its share of attention during Clinton's 2006 bid for re-election, but it hardly hurt her. She easily beat back a challenge from former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer.

THE SPIN:

By saying her job-creation efforts for upstate were stymied in the Senate by a Republican administration and policies, Clinton hopes to deflect doubt about her ability to fulfill a new pledge as president to create 5 million new jobs over 10 years.

THE FACTS:

From 1990 to 2000, New York state jobs grew at a rate of about 13 percent, while the nation saw a 20 percent jump. If the upstate region, with 3.1 million jobs in 2000, had broken out of its sluggish 5 percent growth to be on par with the entire state or the nation, that could have meant a couple hundred thousand jobs.

But upstate New York had not grown at the overall state or national pace for decades - and there was no imminent change on the horizon. As they had before Clinton became senator, manufacturing jobs continued to disappear upstate after the election - from Rochester-based Kodak, flatware-maker Oneida Ltd., Carrier Corp. in Syracuse, western New York's auto and auto parts manufacturers, and others.

Two months after arriving in the Senate, Clinton introduced her first legislation, a package of seven bills designed to spur job growth through tax incentives, entrepreneurial incubators and job training programs.

In late 2003, she announced her participation in a New Jobs for New York initiative, a private, not-for-profit corporation formed by investment banker Roger Altman, who served as deputy treasury secretary in her husband's administration. The goal was to stimulate economic development upstate by matching Wall Street investors with businesses in depressed areas.

By Carolyn Thompson, The Associated Press, February 28, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a remarkable financial recovery, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton raised $35 million in February even as Democratic rival Barack Obama was outspending her in key March 4 battlegrounds.

His financial superiority has been evident in the primary states of Texas and Ohio, which vote Tuesday and where he has purchased $7.5 million in advertising to her $4.6 million, targeting early voters, young voters and voters in regions with concentrations of delegates.

Clinton's fundraising more than doubled her January fundraising, when she collected $14 million to Obama's $36 million. Clinton has lost 11 straight contests since Super Tuesday on Feb. 5 and her ability to raise money was all the more notable coming in the midst of defeat.

"It was incredibly gratifying to see people come forth with this vote of confidence in me," Clinton told reporters in Hanging Rock, Ohio. "Obviously this is a tremendous benefit to my campaign."

But Obama has been raising money at an even greater rate and spending it, too. Some estimates place his February fundraising at more than $50 million - which would be about half of what he raised in all of 2007. Obama spokesman Bill Burton would not divulge a total but said: "We've raised considerably more than" Clinton.

Obama's campaign had spent $2.4 million on ads in Ohio as of Tuesday, to her $1.3 million, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, which tracks political ads. Clinton spent $3.3 million in Texas; Obama spent $5.1 million, the firm's figures show.

Clinton began running a new ad in Ohio Thursday, with Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland promoting her as a "fighter." "I think she's a person who has devoted her life to caring about other people, making sure that America works for everyone, not just the privileged few," Strickland says in the ad.

Obama is targeting younger audiences in his ads, buying expensive prime time spots on programs such as "American Idol" and evening sitcoms. On Tuesday, for instance, Obama bought 38 spots on "American Idol" broadcasts in Ohio and Texas, and in the two other March 4 primary states - Rhode Island and Vermont. Clinton bought only six spots on the show in relatively small markets.

"She's where most of the traditional political buying is," said Evan Tracey, an ad analyst and president of TNS Media. "He is in the choice real estate - it's the luxury end of political buying."

Obama also bought ad time on such Tuesday night programs as "Big Brother," "The Biggest Loser," and "Jericho," a CBS series with a devoted fan base.

Obama also was getting help from labor unions, even though in the past he has criticized rivals who received help from outside groups.

The Service Employees International Union began spending $1.4 million on ads supporting Obama in Ohio and Texas. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union was spending nearly $200,000 on ads in Ohio. What's more, the SEIU was spending a total of about $1.4 million supporting Obama through phone banks and door-to-door canvassing in Texas and Ohio.

"We are facing a real wall of money from the Barack Obama campaign," senior Clinton adviser Harold Ickes acknowledged during a call with fundraisers Thursday. "But based on everything we know today, we are confident we have very strong operations there."

Clinton entered February with $9 million cash on hand for the primaries and about $7.5 million in debts. Obama had $18 million for the primary and $1.1 million in debts.

If both candidates raise more than $35 million each this time, that would make February an astounding fundraising month for the Democrats. At that rate, both candidates would break records for contestants in a primary fight.

Obama told reporters on his campaign plane, "I have no idea how much money we've raised, but we've been paying our bills. Right now, I believe we're doing very good."

In their call to fundraisers, Clinton's advisers announced that the campaign had raised the money from 300,000 donors, including 200,000 new contributors, most of them donating through the Internet. Aides said almost all the money was for the primary election.

"We have resources to play in big states coming up: Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and states beyond," campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe said.

Clinton said reports of her relatively weak fundraising in January and her decision to lend the campaign $5 million started a wave.

"People want this campaign to go on," she said. "It just set off a chain reaction around the country. People start paying attention at different points in a campaign. Now people are engaged."

But some Democrats wondered whether the additional money was too late and not enough to match Obama.

"The Clinton campaign clearly has much more money than they had before, but they are still being dramatically outspent by Obama," said Simon Rosenberg, head of the New Democratic Network, a think tank. "And things don't seem to be trending their way and they don't have a lot of tools to deal with it anymore."

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press, February 28, 2008

Former President Bill Clinton Wednesday urged Texans to vote for his wife in next week's presidential primary and again at post-election caucuses.

"You will be the only people in the country who can vote twice in this election and not break the law," he said.

The Texas contest is a hybrid primary-caucus, where most delegates are awarded based on the primary vote and others by caucuses held later in the evening. Voters can participate in both.

He warned that Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton could beat rival Barack Obama at the polls, only to have a clear victory snatched away at the caucuses, where 35 percent of the state's delegates will be up for grabs.

"A lot of people think Hillary will win in the day time and her opponent will come in the night and take back the votes she won," he said.

Bill Clinton campaigned Wednesday in Houston and Austin, including rallies at Houston Community College, Austin Community College and the University of Texas, where police estimated 5,000 to 6,000 came to hear why the New York senator should be their next president.

He described his wife as someone who has spent a lifetime pressing for change.

"She was making changes in other people's lives when she was a very young person," he said, telling of her work long ago helping abused and handicapped children.

At an Austin Community College campus in heavily minority east Austin, Bill Clinton gave what he called "my pitch" for why Texans should vote for the former first lady over Obama.

Chief among the reasons, he said, is her commitment to universal health care, expanded college and training opportunities for high school graduates and balanced budgets.

He asked those who knew someone without health insurance to raise their hands. Most of the crowd of several hundred did so.

"This is the only rich country in the world where this question could be answered in that way," he said, going on to explain that his wife's health care plan would allow people to keep their private insurance or buy into one of several government plans.

After losing 11 straight contests, Hillary Clinton has pinned her campaign on victories in delegate-rich Texas and Ohio on Tuesday.

Earlier in Houston, at four rallies in Hispanic, black and Asian communities, the former president promised crowds of 200 to 400 their lives will be better if his wife is elected president.

"We have a future out there that could be the most glorious, peaceful prosperous time in human history, or it could be more unraveling, growing more unequal at home and more isolated from the rest of the world," he said. "She is the best person to take us in the right direction."

Bill Clinton focused largely on explaining his wife's energy, health care and education plans, urging supporters to pass the details on to their undecided friends, or even to Obama supporters.

"They're trying to figure out what kind of change they want and who best represents it," he said. "I hope I have persuaded you that she does."

He also emphasized her commitment to manned spaceflight. About 100,000 people in the Houston area work for NASA's Johnson Space Center or related industries.

Hillary Clinton's plan to increase Pell grants and provide a $3,500 tuition tax credit drew big cheers from about backpack-wearing students at each college stop.

The crowd that gathered just down the street from Reliant Stadium, home of the Houston Texans, cheered most enthusiastically for her universal health care plan.

"Will you be able to afford it? Absolutely," the former president said, referring to Obama's contention that Hillary Clinton would force Americans to buy insurance whether or not they could afford it. Bill Clinton said tax credits will be provided to ensure nobody is paying more than a small percentage of their annual income.

Universal health care is a top concern for Rosemary Amaro, whose brother is battling thyroid cancer but doesn't have health insurance. The slight nurse's aide stood at the back of the crowd, straining on tiptoes to see the former president as she shielded her eyes from the sun with a campaign sign.

"I think she's going to make a good president and help a lot of people," said Amaro, 50.

By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press, February 28, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. - Harold M. Ickes may be Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's last hope for winning the Democratic presidential nomination.

Nearly 40 years after attending his first Democration National Convention, Mr. Ickes - who has survived losing presidential campaigns, grand jury investigations and a tumultuous stint in Bill Clinton's White House - is back at another campaign. He has a good 30 years of presidential history on nearly everyone in the Clinton campaign headquarters, but he is as sassy and dyspeptic as he was when he worked for Eugene J. McCarthy.

"I'm a little dismayed by the lack of fight on the part of our staff," Mr. Ickes, the assistant to the campaign manager, scolded an audience of Clinton staffers dispirited after Mrs. Clinton's losses last week, before beginning a roll call of the presidential campaigns he had helped win and lose.

Mr. Ickes, who has typically been a behind-the-scenes player, is stepping out front to make the public case for Mrs. Clinton, at a time when campaign advisers have pressed to lower the profile of her chief strategist, Mark J. Penn.

But most of all, he is serving as the campaign's general in the fight for superdelegates, the elected officials and party leaders who may well determine whether Mrs. Clinton can grasp the nomination from Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. In doing so, Mr. Ickes is drawing on his intimate knowledge of the Clintons and their political networks - as well as delegate selection rules he helped write at the Democratic National Committee.

It is not the most rewarding of jobs these days. Mr. Ickes recounted one "very long" telephone call with a Democratic leader he had known for decades - Mr. Ickes would not say who - who finally, and decisively, informed the persistent Mr. Ickes that Mrs. Clinton should not count on his vote.

It was the latest reminder of how an aggressive campaign has turned into a rear-guard action; he has been reduced to asking delegates to wait until Tuesday to see whether Mrs. Clinton wins Ohio and Texas before doing anything. "There is a real emphasis on holding what we have," said Mr. Ickes, with a combination of resignation and good cheer. "We are very aware of the pressure on delegates and the need to hold them."

For anyone who has followed Mr. Ickes's career, there is something almost poignant about his re-emergence at the side of the Clintons. At 68, he is in the midst of what his friends assume will be his final presidential campaign. Rather than enjoying history in the making and watching a second friend become president, he is trying to offset what he openly describes as the failures of Mrs. Clinton's political aides and advisers.

"She is better than her campaign," he said.

Mr. Ickes went South to battle in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and was a senior adviser to Jesse L. Jackson when he sought to become the nation's first African-American president. He is now fighting against Mr. Obama's effort to be the nation's first black president. Were Mrs. Clinton not in the race, Mr. Ickes said, he has no doubt he would be happily working for Mr. Obama.

And he is back in the circle