AP: Obama hints of sharper edge vs. Clinton [View All]

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_el_pr/primary_rdp

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama talked of introducing some Chicago smackdown to his politics of hope Wednesday, seeking a rebound after Hillary Rodham Clinton grasped victory in the New Hampshire primary. In the wide-open Republican contest, John McCain pressed to build on his New Hampshire win and named experience, knowledge and judgment as his calling cards in the races ahead.

Clinton pored over election strategy in the first blush of her surprising success and indicated she'd compete in every big Democratic contest coming up this month rather than try to cherry pick her way to the nomination.

"I'm going to keep going as we take on all the rest of the contests between now and February 5th," she said, back home in New York to "get grounded and take a deep breath" after a victory that surprised her own campaign, confounded the pollsters and shocked nearly everyone else. Two dozen states vote Feb. 5.

Obama responded not just to his Democratic rival's New Hampshire primary win but to attacks on him by her husband, former President Clinton

"I think that Senator Clinton, obviously, is a formidable and tough candidate, and we have to make sure that we take it to them just like they take it to us," the Illinois senator said. "I come from Chicago politics. We're accustomed to rough and tumble."

Obama is bidding for resurgence in South Carolina and Nevada, which vote this month. On Wednesday, he received the endorsement of the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union local in Nevada in addition to the backing of the state's chapter of the Service Employees International Union.

Bill Clinton complained in New Hampshire that Obama was getting a free pass from the scrutiny turned on Hillary Clinton and likened the Illinois senator's campaign to a "fairy tale." Obama shot back Wednesday that "the real fairy tale is, I think, Bill Clinton suggesting somehow that we've been just taking a cakewalk here."





Obama is going to try to beat Hillary at her own game. We'll see if it works.