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Clinton struggles to hold off hard-charging Obama

Supporters wait to hear Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton speak at Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Hillary Clinton declared herself the candidate of middle class Americans as she struggled to hold off a hard-charging Barack Obama in upcoming Democratic contests in the industrial heartland that could determine the fate of her presidential campaign.

But it was Obama who collected a key labor union endorsement on Friday, at the same time he criticized his rival for supporting legislation harmful to workers such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In the Republican race, John McCain, the party's presumptive nominee, is to receive an endorsement from former President George H.W. Bush tomorrow, Republican officials said. The officials spoke on Friday on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement is next week.

The former president's endorsement, which follows one from ex-Florida Governor Jeb Bush, is a further nudge by Republican chieftains for conservative activists to get over their distaste for McCain and for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to quit the race.

Clinton has relied on working-class Democrats for much of her support in six weeks of presidential primary contests across the country and is counting on them to pull her through upcoming high-stakes primaries in Wisconsin on Tuesday, Ohio and Texas on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22.

The former first lady and New York senator is running a three-pronged strategy. She is honing a tough new populist message, she is sharpening her criticism of Obama and she is presenting herself as the candidate who is better schooled in the intricacies of government policy.

Clinton declared herself the "candidate of, from and for the middle class of America" as she discussed a variety of economic issues during a round-table discussion in Cincinnati, Ohio.

She then left her audience with what is becoming her standard anti-Obama line.

"This primary election offers a very big choice to the voters of Ohio," she said. "You can choose speeches or solutions."
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