Feb 7, 2008 7:40 pm US/Eastern
Obama Camp: Clinton A 'Second Tier Candidate'
Attack Follows Hillary's Request For Weekly Debates
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Sen. Hillary Clinton's eyes water up after a coughing fit during a roundtable discussion at Yale Child Study Center Feb. 4, 2008, in New Haven, Conn.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Is Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign in trouble? After giving herself a financial bailout, rumors swirled that her campaign was in distress.
After divulging she'd loaned her campaign $5 million of her own money, some pundits wondered whether that was part of a strategy to make people feel sorry for her and donate cash or if her camp was really in trouble.
Nobody seems to know for sure.
"She seems to work better from the position of being slightly down," says David Birdsell of Baruch College.
Being slightly down may be working. Clinton's team announced Thursday that in the last 48 hours they'd raised $4 million. The problem is, Sen. Barack Obama has again trumped her, announcing he's raised $7.2 million.
Clinton's campaign manager also sent a letter to Obama's campaign manager, urging them to agree to "a debate a week, beginning this weekend."
A spokesman for Obama told CBS 2's Political Reporter Marcia Kramer they think Clinton's debate demand is "a game you play when you're a second tier congressional candidate."
And the loan has subjected Clinton to derision.
"I don't see why everybody is so, 'Oh $5 million in her own campaign!' Why this is so surprising, that tear duct enlargement surgery is really expensive," radio host Laura Ingraham said at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
So will the sympathy ploy work on New York donors?
"I'm looking for someone to donate to me," joked Manhattan resident Tony Ferrara.
Added Sparta, N.J. resident Bob Calvo: "Absolutely not. I hope she drains her whole war chest. She could every dime away. It's our money, anyway."
But other Clinton supporters are ready and willing.
"I already have and I will again," said Ann Pierce, another New Yorker.
"The Obama campaign is going to try to make this look like the desperate flailing of a candidate who is running out of money," said Birdsell.
Of course, he might not have to if that's the very case.
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