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Obama, Clinton Prepare for Ohio and Texas

10 Mar 2008

The candidates in the Democratic camps ramped up their campaigning ahead of tomorrow's primaries in Ohio and Texas. Currently Barack Obama is leading ahead of Hillary Clinton, having won 11 consecutive victories, in the last few primaries.

The Clinton camp released a new television commercial that implied that she had the required experience that would help her make disaster averting decisions. The Obama camp was quick to retort to the ad by highlighting Clinton's endorsement of the controversial war in Iraq.

Both candidates continued to trade comments at each other's campaign and strategies over the weekend. Obama called Clinton's pledge to ignite political change an empty promise. He went on to say that, "Real change isn't voting for George Bush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it was actually a vote for more diplomacy when you start running for president." Clinton retorted in a rally in Texas by highlighting Obama's inexperience in foreign policy once again.

Clinton not only faces stiff competition from Obama, but also falling support within her own camp. On Friday, she lost the support of the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Jay Rockefeller. Rockefeller stressed on the fact that Obama was able to predict the outcome of what would happen in Iraq when others could not. Rockefeller stated that sound judgment and decisive action were required in the Oval office and Obama was the most likely candidate who had such qualities.

Clinton successfully managed to raise funds for her campaign this month. She publicly announced that she had raised $35 million. However, Obama's campaign representative stated that he had managed to raise considerably more. The $35 million figure is considered to be $8.2 million more than what was dominated during the last financial quarter. The average contribution was around $100 with more than $30 million being donated over the internet.

It could be an indication of how close the competition between the two leaders is, and how high the stakes involved are. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are both spending extravagantly on their electoral campaigns. In contrast, Republican John McCain has spent only about a third as much.