Clinton denies end to White House bid
Hillary Clinton has denied that comments at the end of her debate with rival Barack Obama marked the beginning of the end of her tilt at the White House.
The Democratic debate on Thursday night between the two candidates was particularly important for Mrs Clinton going into March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, where polls show the two rivals in a tight race.
The New York senator is in desperate need of a win after 11 consecutive losses sapped much of the momentum from her campaign and propelled Mr Obama into the lead in the delegate count.
Meanwhile, the White House sided with Republican John McCain and accused The New York Times of repeatedly trying to “drop a bombshell” on Republican US presidential nominees to undermine their candidacies.
The newspaper has drawn fire from Mr McCain and even some of his conservative critics for publishing a report on Thursday suggesting that he had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist. Mr McCain said the report was not true.
Mrs Clinton also sought to gain an edge in the Democratic race by selling her experience and touting herself as the only candidate with a comprehensive plan to end the housing crisis in the US.
Ohio, one of the next big states to vote, is home to millions of working class Democrats who Mrs Clinton’s strategists believe are receptive to her populist economic pitch.
In a marked departure from their previous heated exchanges, the Democratic debate in Austin, Texas, was largely cordial. But Mrs Clinton at one point drew boos from the crowd when she accused Mr Obama of political plagiarism and ridiculed him as the candidate of “change you can Xerox”.
Her comment was a reference to Mr Obama’s use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick.
Mr Obama dismissed the charge out of hand and turned the jeers to applause when he countered: “What we shouldn’t be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up.”
Mrs Clinton quickly shifted her approach, and noted at the end of the debate that “no matter what happens in this contest, I am honoured to be here with Barack Obama.”
The remark was viewed by some Obama supporters as a concessional speech-of-sorts, but Mrs Clinton denied that last night, saying in a round of television appearances, that they were as “a recognition that both of us are on the brink of historic change”.
“I’m very proud that we have the two of us in this contest seeking the Democratic nomination, hoping to become our next president,” she said on CBS’s The Early Show.
Mr Obama’s strong showing in recent primaries has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy.
In a delegate count on Thursday, Mr Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Mrs Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer’s convention.
In the Republican race, White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel, declined to discuss the specifics of The New York Times story claiming Mr McCain pushed legislation that would have benefited clients of lobbyist Vicki Iseman. Both Mr McCain and Ms Iseman have denied a romantic involvement.
