CINCINNATI -- An angry Hillary Rodham Clinton scolded Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama today for campaign mailings that she described as false and shameful attacks on her record.
Clinton's rhetorical blast, the most bellicose of her campaign, came 10 days before Ohio and Texas primaries that could doom her candidacy if she fails to stop her 11-contest losing streak.
Waving two Obama mailings at a press conference, Clinton raised her voice and accused the Illinois senator of distorting her positions on healthcare and foreign trade.
"Enough with the speeches and the big rallies, and then using tactics right out of Karl Rove's playbook," she said, alluding to President Bush's former chief political advisor. "This is wrong, and every Democrat should be outraged."
Obama waved off the sharp criticism in a hastily arranged news conference at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.
"We have been subject to constant attack from the Clinton campaign, except when we were down 20 points," he said "That was true in Iowa. It was true in South Carolina. It was true in Wisconsin. And it is true now. "I think they need to take a look at what they've been doing."
One of the mailings says that Clinton's healthcare plan would force Americans to buy coverage even if they could not afford it.
The other says that Clinton "was not with Ohio when our jobs were on the line," describing her as a champion of the North American Free Trade Agreement approved by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Though Obama defended the two mailers that caused Clinton's vehement condemnation, he also questioned the timing of her outburst, which came at the end of a week in which she lost three more contests.
The healthcare and NAFTA mailers were shipped to voters in Ohio "several days ago if not weeks ago," he said after holding a roundtable discussion in Columbus on healthcare issues. "So I'm puzzled by the sudden change in tone.
"Unless these were just brought to her attention, it makes me think that there's something tactical about her getting so exercised this morning," Obama said, calling the mailers completely accurate.
The senator from New York accused Obama of spending "millions of dollars perpetuating falsehoods."
"That is not the new politics that the speeches are about," said Clinton, who has tried to define Obama as a talented speaker with a thin resume. "It is not hopeful. It is destructive, particularly for a Democrat."
