Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are preparing for a long and potentially brutal struggle for the Democratic presidential nomination, with both campaign teams hinting darkly about resorting to even more negative tactics as the race progresses.
Clinton’s campaign attributes her wins in the primaries in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island on Tuesday night to her aggressive tactics in the past week that forced Obama on to the defensive.
The Obama team on Wednesday threatened to retaliate by exploring skeletons in the cupboard of former president Bill Clinton and his wife, and to demand disclosure of her tax returns. She has been reluctant to release the latter, possibly afraid to let voters see the extent of her wealth.
Despite her three victories on Tuesday, Clinton has failed to make a significant dent in Obama’s commanding lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island awarded her only 12 more delegates than he got.
Obama won Vermont and also regained lost ground in the Texas caucuses, held immediately after the state’s primary. With 12 delegates still to be awarded from the 370 at stake, the breakdown was 185 for Clinton and 173 for Obama.
During a round of television interviews on Wednesday, Obama claimed that his lead in delegates was too big for her to catch up. ”We have an insurmountable lead. We’re very confident we can win the nomination and the general election.”
Although the arithmetic is against Clinton, her wins provide her with momentum going into the primary in Pennsylvania, a megastate, on April 22.
The long time lag allows Clinton to attack Obama with even more intensity than she displayed during the past week, and which exit polls suggest swayed last-minute voters on Tuesday.
Her team concentrated on his links with Anton Rezko, the Chicago property developer on trial for alleged corruption, broadcast a scare ad suggesting that Obama was weak on national security, and was lying about his policy on jobs and international trade.
The Clinton camp signalled it would keep up the aggressive tactics. She is to hold an event on Thursday aimed at highlighting what she claims is Obama’s lack of national security experience.
The contest is unlikely to be decided in Pennsylvania and could now continue all the way to Denver. The prospect of a prolonged campaign is alarming many in the party, who fear intensive in-fighting will help the Republicans. One compromise would be for Clinton and Obama to run on the same ticket.
Obama has 1 562 delegates, including the super delegates, members of Congress and other senior party members who have an automatic vote at the summer conference, and Clinton 1 461. It takes 2 025 delegates to secure the nomination. He is expected to extend his lead by winning the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday and the Mississippi primary next Tuesday.
Asked on CBS whether she and Obama should be running mates, as presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Clinton said: ”That may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me.”
But relations between the sides are poor and neither side is prepared to accept the consolation prize.
David Axelrod, Obama’s communications chief, indicated on Wednesday that he expected the race would continue to be rough. ”If Senator Clinton wants to take the debate to various places we’ll join that debate,” he said.
Even if Clinton wins Pennsylvania, it would not be enough to close the gap. Her team is suggesting for the first time that primaries should be rerun in Florida and Michigan, which held contests in January but were disqualified from sending delegates because they breached party rules. Clinton won both contests, partly because Obama did not participate. — guardian.co.uk Â