"Obama: A Clinton-led ticket at best "barely" wins"

Chicago Tribune:

Barack Obama said today that a presidential ticket led by Sen. Hillary Clinton would be destined to largely repeat the disappointing Democratic performances of 2000 and 2004 and could aspire only to eke out a victory.

Obama predicted that if the Democrats nominate Clinton "you’re going to basically see a repetition of the 2000 and 2004 elections, in the sense that the country’s divided and both parties will be working at the margins to tip the election just barely in their favor."

In an interview with the Tribune, Obama questioned the front-runner’s ability to convert broad public discontent with the Bush Administration into a decisive Democratic victory, suggesting the political baggage she carries from the partisan battles of the 1990s would be a burden on her general election campaign.

“I have a better chance than any of the other candidates of bringing the country together and attracting independents and Republicans into a working majority for change. That is a harder argument for Sen. Clinton to make, I think, because people’s views are set on her," Obama said.

The Illinois senator portrayed Clinton’s campaign so far as one based on obfuscation and avoidance of clear political stands.

In the primary, Clinton is trying “to make herself as small a target as possible to potential Republican attack by avoiding laying out too specific an agenda. But I think you can’t build a majority and bring about real, meaningful change if that’s the approach you take,” Obama said.

In a speech he delivered in Spartanburg, S.C., shortly after the interview, Obama accused Clinton of playing from a worn campaign "textbook" that "encourages vague, calculated answers to suit the politics of the moment, instead of clear, consistent principles about how you would lead America."