Lesson Of Defeat: Obama Comes Out Punching

Senator Barack Obama woke up on Wednesday talking of his delegate lead and of taking the fight to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. But after defeats in two of the most populous states, he also sounded like a chastened candidate in search of his lost moment.

Obama once again failed to administer an electoral coup de grÐ"Ñžce, and so allowed a tenacious rival to elude his grasp. Now, after appearing nearly invincible just last week, he faces questions about his toughness and vulnerabilities Ð'-- never mind seven weeks of tramping across Pennsylvania, the site of the next big primary showdown. His goal is to prove he can win states vital to a Democratic victory in November.

In Ohio and Texas, he drew vast and adoring crowds, yet he came up short on primary day, just as he did in New Hampshire in early January. Clinton's attack on his readiness to serve as commander in chief seemed to resonate with some Texas voters.

In Ohio, Obama failed to make much headway with voters who live paycheck to paycheck and feel the economic walls closing in, a troublesome sign as he heads to Pennsylvania.

But his challenge now is about more than demographics. He must reassure supporters, and party leaders who had started to rally to his side, that he can absorb the lessons of Tuesday's defeats. And he faces a challenge of rebounding as quickly as he did from his loss in New Hampshire.

Flying from Texas back home to Chicago on Wednesday morning, Obama delivered the message that he intended to counterpunch forcefully.

His campaign aides on Wednesday urged Clinton to release her tax returns from 2006, as well as her papers from her years as first lady, which Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, described as "secreted in the Clinton library."

"She's made the argument that she's thoroughly vetted, in contrast to me," Obama said to reporters aboard his campaign plane. "I think it's important to examine that argument."

Over the last year, though, Obama has struggled to deliver that examination. He picks up the cudgel, and then sets it down. The problem is that Obama has built a campaign persona as the man of hope, a young candidate with oratorical skills who promises to build bridges across the ideological divide.

If he indulges his inner Chicago pol, formed in a city where politics is conducted with crowbars, he risks taking the shine off. But his advisers say he has little choice.

Obama took aim on Wednesday at Clinton's claim that she is a seasoned hand in foreign policy. "What exactly is this foreign experience that she's claiming?" he said. "I know she talks about visiting 80 countries. It is not clear. Was she negotiating treaties or agreements or was she handling crises during this period of time?

"My sense is the answer's no."

Obama, finally, has tactical worries of his own. He won in states like Missouri by running up large margins in cities and suburbs. But in Ohio, he appeared outorganized.

Governor Ted Strickland, who endorsed Clinton, advised her to encircle the cities. Strickland led her deep into his base in the hills of Appalachia in southern Ohio; Bill Clinton also passed through the region when he was president. Hillary Clinton ran