Clinton continues to dog Obama on details
In Ohio, Clinton says choice between her and Obama is one of 'speeches or solutions.' In Wisconsin, he calls for action to stop gun violence. On GOP side, George H.W. Bush expected to endorse McCain.
CINCINNATI - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, visiting a chili diner here this morning, continued her strategy of painting rival Sen. Barack Obama as a candidate of rhetoric, not change, and criticized the Illinois senator for what she considers his thinly detailed proposals addressing economic troubles that have been acute in politically crucial Rust Belt states like Ohio and Wisconsin.
Wisconsin holds its primary Tuesday, and voters in Ohio go to the polls on March 4 -- contests that could either increase Obama's delegate lead or give Clinton a chance to end Obama's recent winning streak. Texas, a state with a large Clinton-friendly Latino population, also votes March 4.
With chili dog-slinging line cooks nearby, Clinton spoke with voters at an "economic round table" of the need to end the nation's financial struggles -- something that she said will take more than talk.
"You can choose speeches or solutions," said Clinton, of New York. "You can choose thoughts or actions."
Clinton called for capping credit card rates at 30% and instituting a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures to address the crises in both the credit and sub-prime mortgage markets. She also repeated her pledge to push for universal health care -- issues that she believes offer a sharp contrast between the two candidates
"I have a plan to stop home foreclosures and I have a plan to cover every American in an affordable way and Senator Obama has neither," Clinton said.
Clinton also proposed a federal commission to crack down on abusive lending practices, and criticized Obama for not supporting a bill that would have capped credit card rates at 30%. Obama has said the cap was too high.
While Clinton worked the crowd at the chili diner, Obama took his campaign to Milwaukee, where gun control surfaced as an issue after the killings Thursday on the campus of Northern Illinois University, Obama's home state.
Obama repeated his belief in a constitutional right to bear arms but said the country must do "whatever it takes" to end gun violence through background checks and other regulations that he believes would not curtail Second Amendment rights.
Off the trail, Obama was expected to get a boost with the announcement later today of an endorsement by the 1.9-million-member Service Employees International Union, whose organizing skills could augment the grass-roots focus of the Obama campaign.
