Clinton, seeking comeback, ridicules Obama

By Steve Holland

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton ridiculed rival Barack Obama as all talk and little substance on Wednesday, trying to slow the momentum that has given him 10 straight victories in the race for the party's U.S. presidential nomination.

The New York senator and former first lady sharpened her attack on Obama ahead of the March 4 Democratic contests in Texas and Ohio, which have become critical to her presidential aspirations following her losses on Tuesday to Obama in Wisconsin and Hawaii.

But support for the first-term Illinois senator, whose powerful "yes we can" speaking style has propelled him to the front-runner's position, continued to mount, with the 1.25 million member Teamsters union formally endorsing him on Wednesday.

His long string of victories put Clinton in the awkward position of telling supporters, in media interviews and speeches, "Don't give up on this!" and "This campaign goes on!" while her aides explained how she would close the gap with Obama by the time of the Puerto Rico contest in June.

But Obama has used his string of victories to broaden his voting coalition and has taken control of the race to decide the Democratic nominee for the November election. He has wins in 25 of the state-by-state contests while Clinton has 11, and he has begun to erode support among her core base of women.

At a fund-raising event in New York, Clinton belittled Obama as an inexperienced choice for commander-in-chief in a dangerous world, for advocating a health care plan that is not as expansive as hers and for giving airy speeches.

"It's about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work, on hard work," she said. "We need to make a choice between speeches and solutions, because while words matter greatly, the greatest words in the world are not enough unless you match them with action."

"Now others might be joining a movement," she said. "Well, I'm joining you on the night shift, and on the day shift."

Obama rejected her criticisms while campaigning in Texas, telling a crowd of some 17,000 in Dallas Clinton was right that the race was about choices but wrong about everything else.

"Contrary to what she's been saying, it's not a choice between speeches and solutions," he said.

"It's a choice between a politics that offers more of the same divisions and distractions that didn't work in South Carolina and didn't work in Wisconsin and will not work in Texas. Or a politics of common sense, of common purpose, of shared sacrifice and shared prosperity."

BUILDING A NATIONAL LEAD

Underscoring Clinton's high negative ratings in public opinion polls, he added: "It's a choice between going into the general election with Republicans and independents already united against us or running with a campaign that has already united Americans of all parties around the agenda for change. That's the choice."

Clinton was asked about a controversy involving Obama's wife, Michelle, who said in Wisconsin this week she felt pride in the United States for the first time in her adult life because it felt like hope was returning to the nation.

The former first lady, questioned about the remark, did not criticize Michelle Obama's comment but said: "I think we've all been disappointed in our country, but I've been proud of America on many occasions during my lifetime."