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Surging Obama whacks Clinton, McCain on economy

(Agencies/CCTV)
Updated: 2008-02-14 09:32

WASHINGTON -- Boosted by eight straight wins in the White House nominating race, Barack Obama Wednesday pinned partial blame for an economic malaise stalking America on stalling Democratic foe Hillary Clinton.

The front-runner turned underdog hit back hard, portraying Obama as a mere wordsmith who dodges tough questions, as her camp predicted big victories in Ohio and Texas on March 4, would revive her hopes.

Obama, now the statistical pace-setter after coasting to wins in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC, tempered his rhetoric with hard policy proposals, in a speech on the economy in Wisconsin, which votes on Tuesday.

Seeking inroads in Clinton's working class base, Obama also included possible Republican general election rival John McCain in his critique of a "failure" of leadership in Washington.

"We are not standing on the brink of recession due to forces beyond our control," said Obama in a speech at a General Motors Assembly plant.

"It was a failure of leadership and imagination in Washington -- the culmination of decades of decisions that were made or put off without regard to the realities of a global economy and the growing inequality its produced."

Obama said trade deals in North America and with China, pursued by the Bill Clinton administration in the 1990s, shielded US corporations, and not American workers.

He argued that war in Iraq, which senators Clinton and McCain voted for, cost billions of dollars that could be used to rebuild "crumbling schools and bridges, roads and buildings" in healthcare or for college education.

Obama also pledged to fund a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank worth 60 billion dollars over 10 years, which he said would be paid for by ending the war in Iraq.

But Clinton argued Obama's rhetoric fell short of providing answers to a worsening economic, a mortgage crunch and a health care crisis.

"I have solutions to these economic challenges. The question today is does Senator Obama?" she said at a news conference in Texas.

Her campaign pressed home the idea that his speech-making masked a paucity of policy depth, debuting an ad in battleground Wisconsin, which votes next Tuesday, accusing him of dodging debates.

"Maybe he'd prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions?" the ad said.

And in a fundraising appeal to supporters, Clinton warned that despite her recent reverses, she would not give up before reaching the presidency.

"Every time they start to count us out, we prove them wrong," she said.

"And we're going to keep proving them wrong as many times as we need to until we win the White House."

In a rolling count of nominating delegates by poll-tracker RealClearPolitics.com, Obama led with 1,260 to 1,221. A total of 2,025 delegates is needed for the nomination.

Obama's team said he led by 136 votes in terms of pledged delegates, and that the race was closer only because Clinton had more of the "super-delegates" -- party luminaries who also have a vote at the Democratic convention.

"We believe it is next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.

The question for both campaigns now is whether remaining super-delegates will be swayed by Obama's momentum, and chose to side with the Illinois senator, rather than stick with old ties to the Clintons.

Presumptive Republican nominee McCain landed his own triple primary triumph on Tuesday, but a tougher-than-expected showing from rival Mike Huckabee in Virginia reflected his struggle to close the deal with conservatives.

McCain led Republicans with 804 delegates to Huckabee's 240. Republicans need 1,191 for the nomination.

In Maryland, Obama won among men and among voters of every age group and income level, expanding his political base and auguring well for key states to come.

Exit polls in Virginia showed Obama triumphing in the former first lady's normal bastion of women by 58 percent to 42 percent, and splitting another of her key power bases, white voters.