By Caren Bohan
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (Reuters) - U.S. presidentialcandidate Barack Obama accused rival Democrat Hillary Clintonof using the politics of fear on Saturday after her campaignreleased an ad suggesting that Obama lacked enough securityexperience to keep America safe.
"There are those who are telling you not to believe. Thereare those who are trying to feed your fear and your cynicismand your doubts," the first-term Illinois senator toldsupporters in Providence, Rhode Island.
Obama is seeking to raise doubts about Clinton's judgment,especially around her 2002 Senate vote to authorize the war inIraq, in response to the television ad. It suggested Obamawould not be able to handle a national security crisis.
The jabs over national security come as the candidates racetoward Tuesday's primary votes in Ohio and Texas, big statesthat are considered must-wins for Clinton.
"We've been talking about change from the start of thiscampaign," Obama said. "Real change isn't voting for GeorgeBush's war in Iraq and then telling the American people it wasactually a vote for more diplomacy."
The former first lady, speaking in Texas, argued she wasthe only Democrat who can go toe-to-toe with Republicanfront-runner John McCain, a former prisoner of war who has beena strong advocate of larger troop numbers in Iraq.
"My opponent is now saying that raising national securityin this election is fear-mongering ... . This is a wartimeelection and it matters who we put into the White House," theNew York senator said.
"If Senator Obama is unwilling to engage me over nationalsecurity, how is he going to engage Senator McCain?" Clintontold reporters later in the day.
National security has taken on a central role between theDemocratic rivals as Obama, who has beaten Clinton in 11consecutive contests, seeks to seal the nomination in Tuesday'snominating contests.
Clinton, once the unambiguous front-runner for theDemocratic nomination, has seen her lead vanish in Ohio andTexas in recent weeks.
A Reuters/C-SPAN/Houston Chronicle poll released onSaturday showed Obama with a slim lead in Texas, 45 percent toClinton's 43 percent, within the margin of error.
But she has maintained an edge among Hispanics in Texas,who could make up a third or more of voters there, and willlook for support among women and older voters.
In Ohio, the candidates were dead even at 45 percent.
WHO IS READY FOR CRISES?
The Clinton ad seized on Americans' security fears.
"It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep. Butthere's a phone in the White House and it's ringing.Something's happening in the world. Your vote will decide whoanswers that call," the ad's narrator says.
Obama's campaign responded with its own ad that questionedClinton's vote in support of the Iraq invasion, arguingjudgment was more important than experience.
"Senator Clinton is right when she says she's been testedon national security, but it's a test she has resoundinglyfailed," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
In Texas, Clinton dug into Obama's record.
"He chairs a subcommittee on NATO, which is a major ally inthe war in Afghanistan. But he failed to hold a singlesubstantive hearing on Afghanistan or anything else," she saidin prepared remarks. "He talks about these issues, but then hegoes missing in action."
With the U.S. economy faltering and resistance tointernational trade deals rising, the Iraq war has so far notplayed the same central role in the 2008 presidential race asit did in 2004. But it could well reemerge on center stage.
McCain, the Arizona senator who has a wide lead over rivalMike Huckabee, took the day off from campaigning.
McCain led the former Arkansas governor 58 percent to 23percent in Ohio in Saturday's poll, and 54 percent to 31percent in Texas.
(Reporting by Caren Bohan in Rhode Island, Ellen Wulfhorstin Texas and John Whitesides in Washington; Editing by XavierBriand)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
