Obama Support Grows Amid Clinton Offensive

Barack Obama has extended his electoral grip among groups of voters until recently seen as core supporters of Hillary Clinton, including low-income families and moderates, and has even drawn level among Democratic women, a slew of new opinion polls suggest.

The surveys underline the critical few days facing Clinton, who must perform well in next Tuesday's primaries in Ohio and Texas if she is to stand any chance of regaining some of the momentum currently enjoyed by Obama, who has won 11 straight contests in the past two weeks.

In the face of such setbacks the Clinton campaign has decided to go on the offensive against Obama, unleashing what one adviser told the New York Times was a "kitchen sink" fusillade against him.

The paper said that she would focus on five points of perceived weakness in his experience and preparedness for government.

But such aggressive tactics look increasingly like last-ditch efforts.

A nationwide poll by the Associated Press and Ipsos found that Obama has taken a significant lead among Democratic voters earning between $50,000 and $100,000 a year — reversing the lead that Clinton had enjoyed among that group as recently as February. He has also pulled ahead among white men and those describing themselves as liberals.

According to the survey Clinton continues to enjoy dominance among those aged over 65 and with white women.

But a similar poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS News found that even her prevalence among Democratic women voters has been eroded until both candidates now stand neck and neck at 45%.

The Times/CBS poll overall gave Obama a 16-point lead nationwide, with 54% Democratic support to Clinton's 38%.

Obama received a further boost today with the endorsement of the former presidential candidate Chris Dodd. The Connecticut senator's backing was seen as important partly because of his close ties with the Clintons, and because he is one of the 796 so-called super-delegates to the Democratic National Convention who could hold the balance of power should the battle between Obama and Clinton go all the way to Denver in August.

Dodd, announcing his endorsement alongside Obama at an event in Cleveland, Ohio, said Obama had emerged victorious in more than half the states despite having been "poked and prodded, analyzed and criticised, called too green, too trusting".

Clinton's assault has grown in intensity in recent days. The two candidates appear on stage in a televised debate in Cleveland tonight — the last such debate to have been scheduled.

Yesterday Clinton gave a speech in which she derided Obama's lack of experience in foreign affairs, going so far as to compare him to president George Bush.

"We've seen the tragic result of having a president who had neither the experience nor the wisdom to manage our foreign policy and safeguard our national security. We can't let that happen again," she said.