FORT DODGE, IOWA — Amid new polling that points to a shift in momentum in this crucial state, Democratic presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama made arguments Monday that electing the other would prove a costly mistake.
In a morning campaign stop, the New York senator suggested that her colleague from Illinois was not fit to oversee a U.S. economy where more families are struggling to keep their homes and pay medical bills. She avoided mentioning Obama by name, but her campaign staff later confirmed that she was talking about him when she said: "Every day spent learning the ropes is another day of rising costs, mounting deficits, and growing anxiety for our families."
Speaking in Knoxville, Iowa, Clinton added: "We need a president who understands the magnitude and complexity of the challenges we face and has the strength and experience to address them from Day One."
Obama, who is halfway through his first Senate term, sounded a feisty note when asked to reply at a news conference here later in the morning.
"If Sen. Clinton or her campaign spin team asks me the question" about his level of experience, "my response is to say that our economic plan and our approach on these issues, I think, has been superior to hers," he said. "And that's part of the reason I'm running for office."
He also questioned whether Clinton, a former first lady, had done anything in life to make her a better option for voters worried about an economic slump. By comparison, Obama said he learned firsthand about personal hardship as a community organizer, attorney, law professor and elected official.
"I am happy to compare my experience to hers when it comes to the economy," Obama said. "My understanding was she wasn't Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. I don't know exactly what experience she's claiming."
The quarrel came as a new poll showed that Clinton, despite her large national lead, had yet to pull ahead in Iowa, the first test in the 2008 campaign. Iowa's caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 3.
A Washington Post/ABC News poll showed a tight three-way race, with Obama supported by 30% of likely caucus-goers, Clinton by 26%, and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards by 22%. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
In July, a Post/ABC poll showed Obama with 27%, compared with 26% each for Clinton and Edwards.
