Change and doughnuts served up in SC

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- A year out from the next presidential election, Barack Obama today 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, Obama said that while he considered 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.

After the event, Obama stopped off at a local Krispy Kreme, where he pulled a glazed doughnut right off the conveyor belt and made quick work of it. He signed the employees' visors and some doughnut boxes before walking out with three boxes full. "God bless you," a woman shouted as his entourage left. "You gonna win, too!"