Air of inevitability escaping Clinton
She was a disciplined candidate atop a polished campaign, but Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is now mired in the most serious crisis of her 11-month bid for the White House, as a rolling series of missteps threatens to topple her as the Democratic front-runner.Clinton's chief rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, has wiped out her lead in the crucial early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, according to some polls. Should she lose those contests, gone would be the notion that she is the party's inevitable nominee - one basis of her appeal as a candidate.
Senator Barack Obama is striving to seize on a moment of opportunity in the final weeks before the Iowa caucuses to challenge Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s long dominance of the Democratic field, even as he faces intensified questions about his vulnerabilities in a general election.These days, he barely acknowledges Mrs. Clinton as he speaks to Iowa voters. [...] Addressing the shift in sentiment about his prospects of beating Mrs. Clinton in Iowa and holding her off in New Hampshire and other states that follow, Mr. Obama said in an interview: “A month ago, I was an idiot. This month, I’m a genius.”
|