Washington: Hillary Rodham Clinton, grasping for traction ahead of must-win Democratic presidential nomination contests next month, has denied her conciliatory comments at the end of her debate with front-runner Barack Obama marked the beginning of the end of her once-powerful candidacy.

The Democratic debate Thursday night between the two candidates was particularly important for Clinton going into March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio, where polls show the two rivals in a very tight race. The New York senator is in desperate need of a win after 11 consecutives losses sapped much of the momentum from her campaign and propelled Obama into the lead in the delegate count.

Meanwhile yesterday, the White House sided with Republican John McCain and accused The New York Times of repeatedly trying to "drop a bombshell" on Republican US presidential nominees to undermine their candidacies. The newspaper has drawn fire from McCain and even some of his conservative critics for publishing a report Thursday suggesting that McCain had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist. McCain said the report was not true.

Clinton also sought to gain an edge in the Democratic race by selling her experience and touting herself as the only candidate with a comprehensive plan to end the housing crisis in the United States.

"We cannot jumpstart the economy without addressing the housing crisis," Clinton said in a statement yesterday. "The fact that George Bush is starting to understand that reality but Senator Obama still does not should trouble all those concerned about how the housing crisis is impacting the economy."

Source : PTI