The Kitchen Sink

And just in case voters missed the substance vs. silky rhetoric point, Clinton has been conducting a new policy seminar every day. On Tuesday and Wednesday, deep in the rust belt of Ohio in towns like Zanesville, St. Clairsville and Belpre--where voters at rallies and roundtables spoke of losing their homes to foreclosure and fighting to find work--she focused on the economy. In Zanesville, Clinton held an "Economic Solutions for America Summit" with supporters, including executives, labor leaders, former senator John Glenn and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. She held a roundtable, discussing how to address the looming recession and subprime mortgage crisis, among other issues. Staff handed out a 13-page color copy of her updated "Economic Blueprint."

Thursday morning, in Appalachian Ohio, she focused on child poverty. The campaign circulated a 10-and-a-half-page single-spaced briefing on the issue, pledging, among other things, that as president, Clinton would "formally charge the Secretary of Agriculture with developing and implementing a plan to end child hunger by 2012." By Thursday night, in Houston, the focus had shifted to energy and the space race. Friday's topic: national security and veterans. She pledged to enact a new GI Bill, expand low-interest home loans for veterans, and offered a detailed primer on her work with Sen. Barbara Mikulski to reverse President Bush's plan to eliminate the Traumatic Brain Injury Program. (Clinton staffers constantly play up her support among military leaders, saying she has the endorsement of "27 flag officers … [and] four at the four-star level," citing in particular former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffJohn Shalikashvili and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff William Owens.

In the face of press reports of her political demise, and Obama's 11-0 run in the most recent contests, Clinton acts as though she believes she can reverse her fortunes through sheer industry: I work, therefore, I can win. "You know, you're so specific," Clinton often hears from voters, according to her speech in Waco. " I say, 'Yes, I am, because I don't want you to take me on a leap of faith … Because ultimately you are hiring a president." She closes most rallies with Dolly Parton's "Nine to Five" to drive the point home.

Will it work? A new Fox poll has Obama up by 3 points in Texas, with Clinton hanging onto an 8-point edge in Ohio. Her husband, unhelpfully, suggested that if she loses both, she's through. Her campaign captains disagree. "If he [Obama] is unable to win all four states [Tuesday], then it shows Democrats are engaged in what some in the media have called buyers' remorse and there is an interest in having this campaign go on," communications chief Howard Wolfson told reporters. "We have two very strong candidates," he said later. "This process is gonna continue." Maybe.

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