Clinton defends Obama on taxes

On the eve of John McCain's trip to New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton told campaign volunteers for former rival Barack Obama this afternoon that the "election is really up to you" and announced that she will return to the Granite State next week.

"I think you know you're on the front lines of the election," Clinton told Obama field offices in a conference call also opened up to reporters. "New Hampshire is going to be critical to our victory."

She noted that Democrat John F. Kerry won by one percentage point in 2004, but that Republican George W. Bush won by 1 percentage point in 2000. "Don't get complacent, don't look at the polls," Clinton said. "Two weeks in a presidential election can be a lifetime."

She said she was disappointed that Republican John McCain was offering such negative and false attacks.

Asked about McCain's accusations about Obama's association with 1970s radical William Ayers, which she also raised during the primaries, she said that Obama had dealt with those questions.

Asked about McCain's assertions that Obama's tax plans would "spread the wealth" and are basically socialist, she replied, "We're seeing the desperate actions of a desperate campaign. They're throwing whatever they can. It's unfortunate, but I don't think people will buy it."

Clinton defended Obama's proposals as helping the middle class. The last eight years have been "very good" to the wealthy, she said, and Obama would only return income tax rates back to what they were under the administration of her husband.

"We want a tide that doesn't just lift the yachts," she said. "We want to lift everyone up."

McCain plans a rally Wednesday morning at St. Anselm College in Manchester. New Hampshire voters treated both McCain and Clinton well in January, giving them primary victories that revived both candidates' presidential bids.