Clinton hopes economic message resonates in Ohio

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton pushed her prescription for the ailing economy on Wednesday in Ohio, where she hopes her plans to restore lost manufacturing jobs and aid the middle class are keys to victory in Tuesday's crucial U.S. presidential primary.

Clinton has stressed economic solutions in the stretch run in Ohio, where the struggling economy and a big voting bloc of blue-collar workers create a favourable political environment for her increasingly populist economic message.

"The economy is the number one issue in the country and it's unbelievably important here in Ohio," Clinton, a New York senator, told reporters before an economic summit with more than a dozen invited guests in Zanesville.

The event opened a string of campaign stops over two days in sparsely populated and economically hard-hit Appalachian area of southeast Ohio, where she hopes to highlight an anti-poverty agenda in another nod to former rival presidential candidate John Edwards.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee, made poverty the centrepiece of his campaign before his recent withdrawal from the race. Clinton and rival Barack Obama have competed for his endorsement.

"We're sliding into a recession and the price of everything is going up at the same time. This is a very difficult terrain to try to navigate through," Clinton said.

Clinton faces must-win contests against Obama on Tuesday in Ohio and Texas, where she hopes to halt the Illinois senator's string of 11 straight victories and resurrect her fading campaign to be the Democratic nominee in November's election.

Clinton refused on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of losing either contest and facing an end to her quest for the White House.