Barack Obama steps up attacks on John McCain

PORTLAND, ORE. — Taking aim at his presumed Republican opponent in November even as he faces two more Democratic presidential primaries this week, Barack Obama attacked John McCain on Sunday on Social Security, lobbyists and foreign policy. He said that the Arizona senator would continue what Obama contended were the failed policies of President Bush.

The intensified criticism of McCain came as the Obama campaign signaled that it had shifted its attention to the general election, and that it considered the Illinois senator's bruising Democratic nomination battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton nearly over.

Sunday marked the third straight day that Obama criticized McCain by linking him to Bush, whose approval ratings have hit record lows. By putting a spotlight on Social Security, Obama also reached out to elderly voters, one of the voting blocs that has favored Clinton in the Democratic primaries and that Obama hopes to bring into his camp in November.

Clinton campaigned in Kentucky, the site of the other primary Tuesday, where she is heavily favored, benefiting from the state's more blue-collar demographics. She emphasized that she had no plans to quit fighting for the Democratic nomination.

At a stop in Bowling Green, according to wire service accounts, Clinton said: "It's not going to be easy, and it doesn't happen by wishing and hoping for it. It happens by rolling up our sleeves and getting to work."

She also said: "You don't tell some states that they can't vote and other states that have already had the opportunity that they're somehow more important. I don't believe that."

The two states voting Tuesday have almost the same number of delegates at stake -- Oregon with 52, and Kentucky with 51 -- but the Obama campaign says it needs only 14.5 more to lock up the majority of the nation's pledged delegates. In recent days, Obama also has moved ahead of Clinton in superdelegates, the party insiders and members of Congress who will help choose the presidential nominee at the Democratic Party's national convention in August.