Obama urges voters to 'turn the page' in Washington

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - A year out from the next presidential election, Barack Obama yesterday cast the choice facing American voters in perhaps his starkest terms yet, warning them not to miss a once-in-a-generation opportunity to "turn the page" in Washington.

Before a lively crowd of 850 at Converse College here, the Illinois senator said that while he considered his rival Hillary Clinton a colleague and a friend, she would be the wrong choice for the country.

"She's a skilled politician, and she's run so far what Washington would call a textbook campaign," he said. "The problem I have and the disagreement we have is with the textbook itself. It's a textbook that's all about winning elections but says very little . . . about how to bring the country together to solve problems."

He went on to attack what he called Clinton's "vague" answers, empty promises, and equivocating on major issues such as torture, the Iraq war, and how to deal with Iran.

Obama said he understood the general-election strategy of preparing for an eventual Republican opponent, but that such a tactic doesn't get the United States "to where we need to go."

The country, he said, does not need "change as a slogan, but change we can believe in."

Then he repeated the line for emphasis, suggesting that we will see more of that pithy phrase as Obama continues to try to differentiate himself from Clinton, the front-runner outside of Iowa.

SCOTT HELMAN

Clinton says race to get hot

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - In Iowa, Senator Hillary Clinton says she's "real comfortable" with the heat she's taking from rivals for the party's nomination.

"With two months left, 60 days left until the caucuses, things are going to get a little hotter," Clinton said at a town hall meeting at a farm museum. "Obviously the campaign is going to get heated up and speeded up."

The New York senator vowed to step up the pace of her campaign for Iowa's caucuses in the closing weeks.

Polls have shown her building a small lead in the state, but it is among the toughest states for her among the early tests of strength.

"We're going to be covering a lot of ground," she said. "We need to have even more people involved."

ASSOCIATED PRESS