Obama 'all talk, little substance'
2008-02-21 07:14
Brownsville - Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton criticised rival Barack Obama as a big dreamer with little substance on Wednesday as she sought to slow his momentum from 10 straight victories in the race for the party's
US presidential nomination.
"We need to dream big, but you know, dreams alone won't
make anything," Clinton said while courting Hispanics at a
noisy rally in this south Texas town on the Mexican border.
"We've got to have solutions to the problems that face us."
The New York senator and former first lady sharpened her
message against Obama before the March 4 Democratic nominating
contests in Texas and Ohio, which have become critical to her
presidential aspirations after losses to Obama in Wisconsin and
Hawaii.
But support mounted for the first-term Illinois senator,
whose "yes we can" message and powerful speaking style has
propelled him to the front-runner's position. The 1.25 million
member Teamsters union formally endorsed him on Wednesday.
'Don't give up on this!'
His long string of victories put Clinton in the awkward
position of telling supporters, in media interviews and
speeches, "Don't give up on this!" and "This campaign goes on!"
while her aides explained how she would close the gap with
Obama by the time of the Puerto Rico contest in June.
She and Obama crisscrossed Texas on Wednesday and will face
off in a crucial debate on Thursday in Austin.
Analysts believe Clinton can only turn around her campaign
by winning big victories in two weeks in Texas and Ohio. Her
husband, former President Bill Clinton, basically agreed.
"If she wins in Texas and Ohio I think she will be the
nominee," he said. "If you don't deliver for her, then I don't
think she can. It's all on you," he told supporters in
Beaumont, Texas.
Obama has used his string of wins to broaden his voting
coalition and has taken control of the race to decide the
Democratic nominee for the November election. He has victories
in 25 of the state-by-state contests while Clinton has 11, and
he has begun to erode support among her core base of women.
A new Reuters/Zogby poll indicated Obama has leaped past
Clinton and built a big national lead.
The poll showed Obama, who would be the first black
president, with a 14-point edge over Clinton, 52% to 38% after being in a statistical tie with the New York senator last month.
- Reuters