Do-or-die Hillary turns bully as Obama starts to pull away

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February 17, 2008

Do-or-die Hillary turns bully as Obama starts to pull away

With her rival ahead in the polls and wooing her bedrock Hispanic and female voters, Clinton is trying to force her way back with a risky strategy that could split her party
Sarah Baxter, Columbus, Ohio

THERE is an air of desperation in Hillary Clinton’s camp. The New York senator has embarked on a door-die mission to hector and bully her way to victory, putting her on a potential collision course with Democratic party leaders.

It is a risky strategy that could leave her more isolated and unpopular as voters defect to Barack Obama, the new front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Obama, 46, is being tarred as a cultish, messianic figure who talks big but cannot deliver.

Clinton, 60, is being driven into her last redoubts as white women, blue collar workers and Hispanics – her core supporters – have begun to peel away. In public she is adopting a feistier tone and a more populist message against the Illinois senator in a bid to stem her losses.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3382295.ece