Clinton, Obama already eyeing March 4

updated 8:20 a.m. ET Feb. 13, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is counting on the almost-Super Tuesday primaries March 4 for another comeback, as she and rival Sen. Barack Obama both begin ads in Texas and Ohio, the day's biggest prizes.

Barring an upset win for Clinton in the next five Democratic contests, she could well have suffered 10 straight defeats by the time Democrats begin voting March 4 in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont — the biggest single day left on the Democratic nominating calendar.

The New York senator bounced back earlier in New Hampshire after Obama defeated her in Iowa. Now she says "I am very confident" of doing much better when 370 delegates are allocated March 4.

Neither Clinton nor Obama could win enough delegates that day to clinch the nomination, but the outcome could sway increasingly crucial superdelegates — the party officials who are not bound by primary and caucus voting and may end up picking the nominee.

Clinton herself underlined the importance of Ohio in a satellite interview Tuesday with WCPO in Cincinnati: "Ohio is really going to count in determining who our Democratic nominee is going to be." She spent the day doing satellite interviews with 10 television stations in Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin before heading to an election night rally in El Paso, Texas.

Both campaigns launched TV ads Tuesday in Texas and Ohio, where voters will select 193 and 141 delegates, respectively. Between them, the two states have another 55 superdelegates.

The Illinois senator's ad targeted one of Clinton's perceived strengths — health care.

Courting the Hispanic vote
Her ads played on one of her strengths, going up simultaneously in English and Spanish, crucial in Texas where Hispanics could supply up to half the Democratic votes. Hispanics have heavily favored Clinton over Obama in earlier contests. He planned Spanish ads later in the week.

Saturating the huge Texas media markets could cost each of them $1 million a week, but there were other places to spend money as the neck-and-neck Democratic contenders battle over every delegate. With three weeks to the voting, both camps also are scrambling to build organizations in all four states.

"It won't be as strong of a ground game as they had in Iowa because they had months and months and months" to prepare for the campaign's first contest, said Caleb Faux, executive director of Ohio's Hamilton County Democratic Party.

The campaigns used tickets to punk-rock concerts, deep-fried foods and even drinks called Hillaritas to lure volunteers who can build databases, canvass and staff phone banks.

"The directive we've gotten is to do everything you can locally to harness the energy," said Carter Stewart, an Obama volunteer who has coordinated Ohio friends to wave signs at events.

Last Friday, the Clinton campaign, which has done better among lower-paid workers, dispatched Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to rally support in the economically depressed Rust Belt city of Youngstown. "It would be very difficult for her to proceed to eventual victory without winning Ohio," Strickland said Monday.

Obama targets Cleveland
Next Friday, Obama's camp plans to bring 2,000 new volunteers to Cleveland, home to a significant batch of the black voters who account for one in eight registered Ohio Democrats. Bidding to be the first black president, Obama has overwhelmingly won black votes in earlier contests.

At Ohio's Bowling Green State University, Obama volunteers combined a punk-rock concert with a campaign sign-up.

In Rhode Island, where voters will allocate 21 delegates, more than 250 Obama volunteers already met at a Dollar General store to go door-to-door. The campaign was making use of Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama's brother and the coach of Brown University men's basketball team.

In Vermont, where voters will decide on 15 delegates, former state Rep. Mary Sullivan, an Obama supporter, has been looking for space to house an expected influx of workers as people in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York call to volunteer. Billi Gosh, a Vermont super delegate who supports Clinton, expressed frustration that her campaign has relied entirely on volunteers in Vermont and has yet to send in a staff worker. "We really need a staffer, and we need Bill or Hillary Clinton to come here," she said.

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