Hillary Clinton on Friday denied she was contemplating defeat for her White House bid, after her wistful tribute to Barack Obama in a debate was seen by some observers as an admission of looming failure.
Reeling from her Democratic rival’s 11 straight wins in nominating contests, Senator Clinton rejected the perception that her performance on Thursday in a high-stakes debate in Austin, Texas, had a valedictory tone.
”This is going to be a spirited election between now and March 4,” Clinton told supporters at a rally in Dallas, Texas.
”I am thrilled at the depth and breadth of support I have across the state,” she said, knowing that Texas, along with Ohio, makes up a pair of must-win contests for her.
But in the debate the night before, the generous tribute she paid to her rival was seen by some commentators as an admission that her quest to be the first woman president could fall short.
”You know, no matter what happens in this contest … I am honoured to be here with Barack Obama. I am absolutely honoured,” she said, and reached out to shake his hand.
While Clinton was making the case that her campaign was not on its last legs, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain was back in Indiana, attempting to shrug off news reports that connected him to corporate lobbyists and one, in the New York Times, that suggested he had had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist.
Other publications followed up the Times story on Friday with accounts of their own of McCain — who maintains a clean political image — in close ties with lobbyists.
The White House, which has mostly stayed on the sidelines in the presidential race, came to McCain’s defence on Friday, suggesting the Times is biased against Republicans.
”I think a lot of people here in this building with experience in a couple of campaigns have grown accustomed to the fact that during the course of a campaign … the New York Times does try to drop a bombshell on the Republican nominee,” said White House spokesperson Scott Stanzel.
”And sometimes they make incredible leaps to try to drop those bombshells on the Republican nominees,” he added.
Obama on the rise
Obama, who leads Clinton 1 368 to 1 271 in the race to win enough delegates to capture the Democratic nomination, made several appearances in Texas on Friday, one of two large states to hold primaries on March 4 expected either to rescue or to end Clinton’s White House hopes.
Now favoured to win the Democratic nomination, Obama — who seeks to become the country’s first African-American president — spent part of the time jousting with McCain over United States foreign policy.
McCain attempted to skewer Obama over his offer in Thursday’s debate to speak to leaders of US foes without preconditions, focusing on Cuba after the resignation of Fidel Castro.
”So Raul Castro gets an audience with an American president, and all the prestige such a meeting confers, without having to release political prisoners, allow free media, political parties and labour unions, or schedule internationally monitored free elections,” McCain said.
”Senator Obama says he would meet Cuba’s dictator without any such steps in the hope that talk will make things better for Cuba’s oppressed people,” he added.
Obama hit back in his own statement: ”John McCain would give us four more years of the same Bush-McCain policies that have failed US interests and the Cuban people for the last 50 years. My policy will be based on the principle of liberty for the Cuban people, and I will seek that goal through strong and direct presidential diplomacy.”
Besides the pressure of a lagging campaign, the death of a police motorcyclist who crashed while escorting Clinton in Dallas on Friday cast a pall of sadness over her team.
”I just learned of the death of a Dallas police officer in a devastating accident that occurred as these motorcycle officers were leading our cars to this site,” Clinton said. ”We are just heartsick over this loss of life and I have asked that my condolences be conveyed to the family.”
Meanwhile, Clinton’s camp sought to turn her melancholy remarks in the debate to her favour.
”What we saw in the final moments in that debate is why Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States,” her spokesperson Howard Wolfson said in a statement. ”Her strength, her life experience, her compassion. She’s tested and ready. It was the moment she retook the reins of this race and showed women and men why she is the best choice.” — Sapa-AFP