Hillary: The Candidate of, From, and For the Middle Class

LYNDHURST, Ohio (AP) -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton smothered Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain with kindness on Friday, then declared her rivals wrong on the issues and vowed to beat both in her quest for the presidency.

She said Obama, her Democratic foe, has run an "extraordinary campaign," and called McCain, the likely Republican nominee, "a man of great heroism."

But she said McCain represents "more of the same" in Iraq, and she cast Obama as an obstacle to universal health care. She also unveiled a tough new ad against Obama, accusing him of dodging debates.

Her remarks came on a day when she characterized herself as the "candidate of, from and for the middle class of America" and endeavored to keep her Democratic coalition in Ohio intact against a hard-charging Obama.

Obama's brochures to voters, she said, "sound like they've been written by the health insurance industry and the Republicans, talking about how we can't possibly get to universal health care."

"My opponent has given up the fight before we've ever started," she told a gathering of Democrats at a party fundraiser outside Akron.