Obama Goes On The Offensive

From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

CHICAGO -- Barack Obama raised questions about Hillary Clinton’s candidacy today, arguing that it is time to look at her assertions on experience. “I have not seen any evidence that she is better equipped to handle a crisis,” he said. “If the only criteria is longevity in Washington, then she's certainly not going to beat John McCain on that."

Obama said he is ready to challenge her argument that she has been vetted and tested, hoping to dispel questions about his own experience.

“One of the things that I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience that she’s claiming? I know she talks about visiting 80 countries,” Obama said. “It’s not clear, was she negotiating treaties or agreements or was she handling crises during this period of time? My sense is the answer is no.”

When asked if the negative ads in Texas had an impact on Tuesday’s outcome, Obama said he believes some undecided voters may have been influenced by them. “There’s no doubt that Senator Clinton went very negative over the last week, the kitchen sink strategy I’m sure had some impact,” he said. “Particularly when many of you in the press corps felt that you had been too hard on her and too soft on me.”

Going forward, Obama said he will continue to campaign in every state and will not cherry-pick contests. He dismissed the Clinton argument that she is winning states that are significant in a general election, while his wins are paltry. “This notion that somehow all the states I win are not bellwether states but the states that Senator Clinton wins those are the critical ones is a strange way of keeping score,” he said, adding that if he wins in Wyoming and Mississippi, he will more than make up for any delegates he lost last night.