February 24, 2008	Sunday	Safar 16, 1429

WASHINGTON: Hillary Rodham Clinton, grasping for traction ahead of must-win Democratic presidential nomination contests next month, denied Friday her conciliatory comments at the end of her debate with front-runner Barack Obama marked the beginning of the end of her once-powerful candidacy.

The Democratic debate on Thursday night between the two candidates was particularly important for Clinton going into March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, where polls show the two rivals in a very tight race. The New York senator is in desperate need of a win after 11 consecutives losses sapped much of the momentum from her campaign and propelled Obama into the lead in the delegate count.

Meanwhile on Friday, 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 McCain and even some of his conservative critics for publishing a report on Thursday suggesting that McCain had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist. McCain said the report was not true.

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.

“We cannot jumpstart the economy without addressing the housing crisis,” Clinton said. “The fact that George Bush is starting to understand that reality but Senator Obama still does not, should trouble all those concerned about how the housing crisis is impacting the economy.”Ohio, one of the next big states to vote, is home to millions of blue collar Democrats who 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 Clinton at one point drew boos from the crowd when she accused Obama of political plagiarism and ridiculed him as the candidate of “change you can Xerox.” Her comment was a reference to Obama’s use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.

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.”

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 Clinton denied that on Friday morning, saying in a round of television appearances, that they were as “a recognition that both of us are on the brink of historic change.”

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 the delegate count on Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer’s convention.

Clinton went into Thursday night’s debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival. “I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common,” she said.

She was combative and complimentary by turns, and reflected on her well-known personal struggles in the debate’s final moments.

“Everyone here knows I’ve lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life,” she said — a thinly veiled but clear reference to her husband Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment.

The two Democrats disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro’s resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet “without preconditions,” but added the US agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation.

They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign.

In the Republican race, White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel, declined to discuss the specifics of The New York Times story claiming McCain pushed legislation that would have benefited clients of lobbyist Vicki Iseman. —AP