On the Ground and in the Air With the Democrats

Despite earlier talk by her husband and others that she needs to win both Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, Clinton gave no sign that a surrender is imminent. Wearing her trademark yellow and forcing her voice louder even as she grew hoarse, Clinton basked in boos from the crowd when she mentioned Obama's early opposition to the Iraq war, which she said had been basically meaningless.

"When that phone rings at 3 a.m. in the White House, who do you want picking up that phone and deciding what we're going to do for our country?" Clinton asked. "Now, my opponent gets a little unhappy when I talk about national security. He says that, you know, talking about the realities of the job of being president and commander in chief, like those 3 a.m. phone calls that come out of the blue, is somehow fear-mongering."

-- Anne E. Kornblut

HAPPY TRAILS?

Campaigning in Ohio, Bill Clinton Stays Upbeat

Former president Bill Clinton, on perhaps his final campaign swing as either a presidential candidate or the spouse of one, has morphed from the angry husband of January to the proud partner of March.

Appearing in Kirtland near the end of a two-day, seven-city tour of Ohio, he showed up more than an hour and a half late after a long day of campaigning Friday that kept the 61-year-old up past 1 a.m. But he was energetic, giving the kind of rambling speech full of stories and policy details he is known for and avoiding the darker side he showed in South Carolina and New Hampshire, when he sharply criticized Sen. Barack Obama.

"It's a source of immense pride," he said of his wife's bid, as a crowd of more than 1,000 applauded in a high school gym. "I believe in her and her campaign."

He praised the audience for their enthusiastic backing of the former first lady. "When Hillary's supporters realized that Senator Obama was going to outspend her three to one, you had this amazing thing, she got tens of millions of dollars on the Internet," he said.

The Clintons' daughter, Chelsea, 28, also campaigned in Ohio, touting her mother's candidacy to students at Case Western Reserve University, the University of Akron and elsewhere.