Rivals turn up heat on Obama as N.H. nears

NASHUA, N.H. — Look out, Sen. Barack Obama — here comes the heat.

Mr. Obama, a first-term senator largely untested by mudslinging, will face intense scrutiny from his rivals, whom he handily defeated in the Iowa presidential caucuses Thursday.

Two new polls released yesterday showed Mr. Obama with large leads heading into first-in-the-nation primary here Tuesday, and one-time Democratic front—runner New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took some jabs at the Illinois Democrat on the trail yesterday and distributed a mailer questioning Mr. Obama’s record on abortion rights.

The mailer says that seven times when he served in the Illinois state Senate, Mr. Obama declined to take a position on abortion bills, while Mrs. Clinton has been a defender of abortion rights.

During his eight years in the legislature, Mr. Obama cast a number of votes on abortion and received a 100 percent rating from the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council for his support of abortion rights, family-planning services and health insurance coverage for female contraceptives. He voted against requiring medical care for aborted fetuses who survive, a vote that especially riled abortion opponents.

“A woman’s right to choose,” the mailing obtained by the Associated Press says on the front, then flips to the back, “demands a leader who will stand up and protect it.” It’s labeled “Paid for by Hillary Clinton for President.”

Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said the campaign decided to send the abortion mailer piece because “as Senator Obama has said, ‘voting records matter.’ This is a critical issue for New Hampshire voters, and they deserve a straightforward presentation of the facts about both candidates.”

Without using Mr. Obama’s name on the stump, Mrs. Clinton said he has made “a really big mistake” by not covering all Americans with his health care plan, ceding to Republicans that the Democrats can’t defend this proposal and that the party’s nominee “is going to be thrown right into that blaze, the inferno known as the general election.”

Campaign strategists expect increasing attacks on Mr. Obama as the hopefuls battle through here, in Nevada and South Carolina before Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

“The only way to win is to tear down Obama at this point,” said campaign media strategist Bud Jackson, who is not affiliated with a candidate. “The bottom line is, he is the front—runner, and he’s got a target on his back.”

Donna Brazile, an adviser to then-Vice President Al Gore when he was the Democrats’ 2000 presidential nominee, said voters are getting a chance to see how well the candidates can handle serious pressure.

“Those other candidates have to figure out how to get their game on,” she said. “Obama has game.”

Obama adviser Jim Demers, a veteran state Democratic strategist, warns that attacks will backfire.

“We are four days from the election, and the voters here at this late time are in no mood for attacking,” he said.

Many Iowa voters said in the days leading up to the caucus they were turned off by attacks, even subtle ones, and by negative anti-Obama television ads paid for by advocacy groups not connected to candidates.

Story Continues →