Strong words as Democrats traverse Ohio

WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Sen. Barack Obama sharply questioned Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's claims of extensive foreign-policy experience Sunday, pushing back against her argument that only she is prepared to handle national security as president as the two raced toward a pair of potentially decisive primary contests.

Obama, nearly crossing paths with his main rival as both campaigned across central Ohio, said Clinton argues she has "all this vast foreign-policy experience," but failed to read the National Intelligence Estimate before voting to authorize the war in Iraq in 2002.

"We're still waiting to hear Sen. Clinton tell us what precise foreign-policy experience that she is claiming that makes her prepared to answer that phone call at 3 in the morning," Obama said, to cheers at a town-hall meeting here.

Betting the future of her campaign on victories in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, Clinton is closing out her effort with the argument that she would be better prepared to handle an international crisis, even running a provocative ad on the topic. She made that case again Sunday, blending the argument with a description of herself as a "fighter, a doer and a champion" for low-income workers in this economically stressed region.

"You know, for some people, this election is about how you feel. It's about speeches," Clinton said at a high school near where Obama spoke. "Well, that's not what it's about for me. It's about solutions."

Clinton got a hint Sunday of the pressure she may face to get out of the race if she fails to make a strong showing Tuesday and win significantly more delegates than Obama — an unlikely outcome given Democratic delegate-allocation rules. It came from a former rival, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Speaking on CBS's "Face The Nation," Richardson said, "I just think that D-Day is Tuesday. We have to have a positive campaign after Tuesday. Whoever has the most delegates after Tuesday, a clear lead, should be, in my judgment, the nominee."

Obama has won the past 11 contests and, despite Clinton's attacks, still enjoys a front-runner's momentum. He raised more than $50 million in February, while she raised $32 million. He has been peeling off some of her superdelegates — who are party leaders and elected officials — and now has such a big lead in pledged delegates that there is virtually no way Clinton can overtake him Tuesday.

Clinton advisers view both Ohio and Texas as must-win contests to persuade superdelegates and donors that her candidacy is viable. Public polls in Texas show a virtual dead heat, if not a slight lead for Obama, while Clinton has been holding on to a small lead in Ohio.

Clinton has privately told advisers that she has a hard time imagining ending her campaign if she wins Ohio and narrowly loses Texas, given that she has money in the bank and that she believes she would have an edge in the next big vote, Pennsylvania on April 22, because its demographics are similar to Ohio's.

Richardson, who has not endorsed either Clinton or Obama, warned both candidates about negative campaigning, but he was outspoken in his criticism of Clinton's new "ringing phone" ad that argues that Obama is not ready to become commander in chief.

"I happen to disagree with that ad that says that Sen. Obama is not ready," he said. "He is ready. He has great judgment, an internationalist background."