Clinton: Rivals complaining because she's winning

By Ellen Wulfhorst

CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton said on Friday her male rivals attacked her at a debate this week not because she is a woman but because she is winning the race to be the party's presidential candidate.

As bickering among the rival camps intensified, Clinton denied hiding behind her gender even as she was accused of doing just that by rival Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Campaigning in New Hampshire, Clinton was asked if she thought other Democrats were taking aim at her at Tuesday night's debate because she is a woman.

"No, I don't think they are piling on because I am a woman," she said. "They are piling on because I am winning."

Clinton was in Concord registering to run in the state's political primary, traditionally one of the first nominating contests.

Obama, the only black candidate in the U.S. presidential race, told NBC's "Today" show that Clinton is widely viewed as a tough figure in national politics.

"So it doesn't make sense for her, after having run that way for eight months, the first time that people start challenging her point of view, that suddenly she backs off and says, 'Don't pick on me,'" he said. "That is not, obviously, how we would expect her to operate if she were president."

Obama said he hoped Clinton would wanted to be "treated like everybody else."