"The truth is that Sen. Clinton does have a universal healthcare plan," he said evenly. "And so do I. The difference is she has what she calls a mandate, and I don't. . . . It's not a mandate that government give you insurance. It's government mandating that you buy insurance."
The other Obama mailing describes Clinton as a champion of the North American Free Trade Agreement approved by her husband, former President Clinton. It says that she "was not with Ohio when our jobs were on the line." Clinton said she had criticized the pact for years and had a four-point plan to fix it.
Countered Obama in Akron: "Sen. Clinton supported NAFTA before she ran for president. She called it a victory in her book. . . . You can't be for something or take credit for an administration and 35 years of experience and then when you run for president suggest somehow that you didn't really mean what you said back then."
Clinton also released new TV ads Saturday.
None was as hard-hitting as her remarks in Cincinnati, but one took an implicit poke at Obama. "In Texas, when there's work to be done, talk doesn't cut it," an announcer says in the spot.
Another ad features Clinton's closing remarks in the candidates' Texas debate last Thursday. It shows her saying that "the hits I've taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country." Clinton strategist Mark Penn described that part of the debate as a "real moment of emotional connection" between her and voters.
Others have wondered whether Clinton's body language during other parts of the debate suggested that she was losing hope.
On Friday, CBS newsman Harry Smith told Clinton that he "saw some of the fight leave your body."
"Probably what you saw," Clinton responded, "was, you know, lack of sleep, which finally does catch up to you with all of the cross-country traveling we're doing."
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michael.finnegan@ latimes.com
maria.laganga@latimes.com
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Finnegan reported from Cincinnati, La Ganga from Columbus.
