Obama camp sees fine line in hitting back

Here in Wyoming, Mr. Obama forcefully defended his stance on the Iraq war, reminding voters that he had opposed it from the beginning.

“I just have to mention this because I don’t want anybody here to be confused,” Mr. Obama said. “I was opposed to this war in 2002. If it had been up to me we would have never been in this war. It was because of George Bush with an assist from Hillary Clinton and John McCain that we entered into this war.”

Under Mr. Obama’s rules, the attack does not violate his pledge to wage a new type of politics because it revolves around a specific issue, like Iraq. At another point during a town-hall-style meeting here, he resorted to humor when he invoked the Clinton television advertisement of the telephone ringing in the White House at 3 a.m.

“What do people think I’m going to do? I’m going to answer the phone,” he said, speaking over laughter from the crowd. “I’m going to find out what’s going on.”

At a rally Friday evening in Laramie, Wyo., he hailed Mrs. Clinton as “a fine public servant.” He said her approach in Washington was not to unify but “to beat the other side into submission.”

Still, in what the campaign hoped would be the final days of the primary fight, Mr. Obama continues to grapple with some of the same challenges he faced in the opening weeks of the campaign. It was a year ago when Mr. Obama rebuked his staff for how they responded when David Geffen, a Hollywood executive and former fund-raiser to the Clintons, sharply criticized Mrs. Clinton.

“I told my staff that I don’t want us to be a party to these kinds of distractions because I want to make sure that we’re spending time talking about issues,” Mr. Obama said in an interview at the time. “My preference going forward is that we have to be careful not to slip into playing the game as it customarily is played.”

But with the stakes of the nominating battle high, some of Mr. Obama’s supporters worry that his campaign has not found a way to deal strongly with criticism from Mrs. Clinton. On Thursday, her senior advisers accused Mr. Obama of acting like the former prosecutor Kenneth W. Starr for raising questions about releasing papers from her time in the White House.

Charles Lundgren drove 320 miles from Montana to see Mr. Obama here. He said he had grown worried in recent days about the back-and-forth between the Democratic rivals.

“He has to come out and reveal some of her negatives more,” said Mr. Lundgren, 80. “Negatives seem to pay off; they apparently did in Texas. I think he’s going to have to come back at her. You can’t let Bill and Hillary contribute that way with their negative stuff without coming back at them.”

MORE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

The New York Times Section Front

NYT: Similarities to Iraq surge mask Afghan risks NYT: Wider Pakistan drone use OK'd NYT: S.C. rift highlights debate in GOP NYT: Medical debt spurs more bankruptcies Health bill revives abortion groups Drug firms raise prices ahead of reform For thrillers, Glenn Beck is new Oprah Analysis: Victories rekindle GOP’s hope The New York Times Section Front