Clinton seeks to cast herself as underdog vs Obama

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton, viewed last year as virtually unstoppable in her bid to become the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, is now seeking to portray herself as the underdog against rival Sen. Barack Obama.

The Clinton campaign has labeled the Illinois senator the "establishment" candidate as she tries to wrest from him the message of a vow to bring change to Washington.

But political analysts saw some irony in the New York senator's effort to seek the status of a challenger to the establishment, given that she has been a household name since her husband, Bill Clinton, ran for president in 1992.

On the day after the February 5 "Super Tuesday" nominating contests where the two Democrats fought to a draw, Clinton aides said the former first lady had faced an uphill battle in some states because of Obama's fundraising prowess and the slew of high-profile endorsements he had racked up.

"Senator Obama, really in the last couple of weeks ran an establishment campaign based on endorsements while he's saying that he was in fact a change candidate," said Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn, listing the endorsement of Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, a senior figure in the party, as one of several advantages Obama had.

Clinton, 60, who would be the first woman U.S. president, also made the point on the campaign trail in Maine on Saturday. "He has increasingly relied on big endorsements and celebrities to sort of attach himself to, to get the kind of validation that comes from that sort of endorsement," she said.

Later, Obama cruised to decisive wins in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state to gain momentum in a deadlocked, state-by-state fight with Clinton for the nomination to take on the Republican nominee in November's election.

His campaign scoffed at the notion that Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, was an establishment candidate, saying he had grass-roots support and much of his campaign cash has come from small donors who have flocked to his Web site.

"The Clinton campaign spin doesn't change the fact that people have chosen Barack Obama in more states because he will actually bring an end to the conventional thinking in Washington unlike his opponent," said Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

While Obama has outpaced Clinton in fundraising in the first few weeks of this year, she edged out Obama in 2007. Both candidates are raising record-breaking amounts of cash.

CELEBRITY SUPPORT

Neither candidate has lacked for support from celebrities. The hugely popular talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Caroline Kennedy, daughter of slain President John F. Kennedy, have campaigned for the Illinois senator. Luminaries like singer Barbra Streisand and filmmaker Rob Reiner have been strong Clinton supporters.

Calvin Jillson, political analyst at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said Clinton is "very clearly the establishment candidate ... and will not be able to shed the label of the establishment candidate."

Obama, 46, burst onto the national stage as an Illinois state legislator four years ago with a rip-roaring speech at the Democratic Party convention. Since then, he has portrayed himself as someone who could bring a new kind of politics to Washington that would bridge racial and partisan divides.

But Clinton has seized on the "change" message and insists her years of political experience would better equip her to transform the way things are done in Washington.

Still, the attempt to label Obama as a candidate of the status quo may not make a dent in his support, said Terry Madonna, political analyst at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "I don't think that's going to dissuade the crowds of 10,000-15,000 people from showing up at Obama's rallies," Madonna said.

At Clinton's campaign events, the idea of her as an "anti-establishment" candidate drew puzzled looks from voters, many of whom admire her seasoning and exposure in Washington.

"It seems to me that she is the one who is more established," said Penny Nutting, a 53-year-old teacher who attended a rally for Clinton in Lewiston, Maine.

Lois Pollis, 50, dismissed as just "more politics" the discussion of who in the race represented the establishment.

"I don't know that either one of them is an underdog," Pollis said. But Clinton has a reputation as a fighter who has taken hits and knows how to come back swinging, and that resonates with some voters, in particular women, she said.

Clinton's surprise victory in the New Hampshire primary was a case in point. "The media had her down and out and women got angry and came out to support her," Pollis said.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason)

(Editing by Lori Santos and Eric Beech)