03.24.08
Ending Tough Week and Slide in Polls, Obama Tries to Refocus Campaign
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama battled to refocus his campaign on the five-year-old Iraq war and the slumping U.S. economy, ending a week that saw him clobbered over incendiary remarks by his longtime Chicago pastor.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the Democratic nomination, blasted away on the war and economy as well, while pressing demands to reinstate delegates in Michigan and Florida.
Clinton won both contests, but the national Democratic party said they would not be counted because the state votes were held too early and violated party rules.
It was a particularly troubling week for Obama. National polling showed his fortunes slipping dramatically in the aftermath of the remarks by Rev. Jeremiah Wright.