Clinton, Obama go for a big finish

WILMINGTON, DEL. — When you're reaching out to voters in 22 states in just over a week, it's not surprising that the speech gets streamlined to its very essence: policy highlights, a bit of biography and a jab or two at your remaining rival.

"The field has narrowed. It's myself and Sen. Clinton, and we're hearing some arguments . . . about how she's ready for Day One," Sen. Barack Obama declared here Sunday. "It's not just saying you're ready for Day One. The question is: Are you right on Day One?"

The crowds have grown, the poll figures have tightened and the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination has changed dramatically as Super Tuesday nears, playing more to Hillary Rodham Clinton's strengths than to Obama's.

The Illinois senator's forte was the stately pace of the early campaign states, when he had time to fill in the details of his celebrity silhouette. He spent more than 80 days in Iowa in just under a year, five consecutive days in New Hampshire and nearly a week each in Nevada and South Carolina.

But since leaving South Carolina victorious nine days ago, he has traveled to a dozen states with contests Tuesday; today he will cross three more off the list with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) by his side.

"When folks know me and my record, we do well," Obama said this weekend on his campaign plane, jetting between Boise, Idaho, and Minneapolis. "If they don't, [Clinton's] got the advantages. . . . The question is: Do we have enough time to be able to penetrate people's minds?"

America may know as early as Tuesday whose message resonated better in the recent frenzy. But over the weekend, the candidates were spending more time getting to events than actually campaigning.

Saturday for Obama saw him in three states, at three rallies, with a schedule that showed some seven hours en route for just over two hours on a podium with a microphone in hand asking voters and caucusgoers "if you're ready for change." Sunday, it was four hours in the air for some 40 minutes on the stump.

"This is the first sort of quasi-national primary, and so you have to campaign as if it's a national election," said chief Obama strategist David Axelrod. "You have to do this hopscotching. One quality event and move on."

It's a far cry from South Carolina, for example, where Obama talked about veterans' issues in Beaufort, with its thousands of military families; spent a full day on women's issues and the weakening economy in Charleston and Columbia; and took a veritable college tour of rallies reaching out to younger voters.