Clinton seeks to cast herself as underdog vs Obama

By Caren Bohan

WASHINGTON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton, viewed by many last year as virtually unstoppable in her bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee, is now seeking to portray herself as the underdog against her rival Sen. Barack Obama.

Political analysts saw some irony in the idea that Clinton, who has been a household name since her husband, Bill Clinton, first ran for president in 1992, is pinning the label of "establishment" on her opponent.

Clinton aides made their case last week, citing Obama's fund-raising prowess and a slew of endorsements he had racked up as evidence he was running an "establishment" campaign.

With the two dueling in a very close race, the implication seemed to be that Clinton had an uphill battle to overcome advantages the Illinois senator had, such as support from prominent Democratic Party figures like Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy.

"Senator Obama, really in the last couple of weeks ran an establishment campaign based on endorsements while he's saying that he was in fact a change candidate," said Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn, the day after the "Super Tuesday" nominating contests in 24 states which she basically split with Obama.

The New York senator and former first lady made her own point on the campaign trail in Maine on Saturday.

"He has increasingly relied on big endorsement and celebrities to sort of attach himself to, to get the kind of validation that comes from that sort of endorsement," Clinton said when asked if she was now the "underdog" in the race against Obama.

Later Obama cruised to decisive wins in Louisiana, Nebraska and the state of Washington to gain momentum in the deadlocked, state-by-state fight with Clinton where every delegate to the party's summer convention has become crucial.