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Obama: Clinton playing hit-and-run in S. Carolina

BY GLENN THRUSH.glenn.thrush@newsday.com

January 23, 2008

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Hillary Rodham Clinton is playing hit-and-run with South Carolina voters, an angry Barack Obama charged yesterday.

Obama, campaigning here a day after Monday's pointedly personal debate, took a parting shot at Clinton, who left the state for a two-day swing through Washington, D.C., California, Arizona, New Jersey and New York. Bill Clinton, campaigning in her stead, made stops in Greenville, Columbia and Aiken.

"I think the South Carolina voters will have to make an assessment in terms of how seriously she's taking the state," Obama told the Christian Broadcast Network yesterday. "She said last night that Bill Clinton wasn't the one running for president, but this is the next primary and he's the one who's staying behind."

Clemson University pollster Joseph Stewart says Clinton's strategy, partly a product of Obama's double-digit lead here, is a mixed bag. "People in South Carolina like to be taken seriously, so this doesn't look good," he said. "But she's sending Bill and he's promised to knock on every door in search of votes, so that might compensate."

Each candidate scored key endorsements yesterday. Obama earned a nod from The State, Columbia's influential newspaper. Clinton, who is leading by 12 points in California, announced she's being endorsed by Rep. Joe Baca and the state's United Farm Workers union.

Clinton, addressing reporters at a Washington hotel before heading west, blamed Obama for setting the tone of their nastiest debate to date.

"Obviously, Senator Obama came last night with a bunch of rehearsed points," said Clinton, wearing a combative expression. "I think what we saw last night was that he's very frustrated. ... He clearly came - he telegraphed it, he talked about it - he clearly came last night looking for a fight. He was determined and launched right in."

Asked if he was the instigator, Obama said, "I wasn't looking for a fight. What I'm looking for is a correcting of the misstatements that have been coming out of the Clinton camp, not just from the senator but also from her husband over the last month."

Obama is incensed both Clintons have continued to accuse him of harboring too much affection for Ronald Reagan, after an interview in which Obama claimed Reagan "changed the trajectory of America" and said the GOP was "the party of ideas" in the 1990s.

Staff writer Carol Eisenberg contributed to this story from Washington.

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