Interview with Clinton: One Day at a Time

On the day after her Ohio and Texas victories, TIME managing editor Rick Stengel caught up with Hillary Clinton to talk about the challenges ahead. Here are some excerpts from the interview:

TIME: What would you say was the key to your victories yesterday? Was there some kind of special sauce, something that you started doing different?
CLINTON: No, I think that I kept on the themes that I think are important for the next President. A lot of people counted me out, but I was campaigning in states where many people felt like they had been counted out from time to time and had to keep fighting and coming back. I was endorsed on Saturday in Youngstown — a city that has had a pretty rough ride over the last three or so decades by Kelly "the Ghost" Pavlik, the champion [middleweight boxer], and I think that really symbolized what I was trying to do, which was to tell people I would be a fighter for them, because I know that they deserve to have someone who gets up every day and works hard for them. And questions began to be asked about Obama and his positions concerning NAFTA and the stewardship of the economy and who was ready to be Commander-in-Chief on Day One. So clearly the people of Ohio and Texas wanted a President who they thought would fight for them and be their champion and was ready to manage the economy and be the Commander in Chief who believed that speeches weren't as important as solutions — and that is what I put forth.

There has been a trait that maybe characterizes both of you — when your back is against the wall and people are predicting your demise — you suddenly burst forth with a new strategy and become successful. Is that something that characterizes your DNA as a politician?
Well I don't know, Rick. I think it may be more about the voters than about me. I think that voters were not ready for this race to be over. They really wanted to keep hearing from me and they wanted me to be competitive. They were clearly voting with their hopes that this race would go on and I would continue to fight another day, so I really believe that for me in New Hampshire and on Super Tuesday and again yesterday — despite being outspent rather considerably in the media, in the mail and on the ground all the other ways that people judge your viability — I had the people on my side and that became clearer and clearer to me every day that went by.

If you had to do it all over again, would you have started drawing firmer contrasts with Senator Obama earlier during the primary process?
Well I think that every campaign has a rhythm to it. This campaign has had a lot of interesting twists and turns. One of the events that I believe helped me in the elections yesterday was the realization that Senator McCain was going to be the Republican nominee. Democrats and independents suddenly said, "Oh boy, this is going to be interesting. We better vote for someone who can go up against Senator McCain." No one could have predicted that, but that is how it felt to me. I also think that I had to be in a position where I had the resources to back up any of the comparisons that I was drawing and I was able to do that in Ohio and Texas.

Speaking of Senator McCain, would you say that his attacks on Senator Obama have had the intended or unintended consequence of helping you?
I have no opinion on that. I think Senator McCain is his own man, as we all know. I have dealt with him, worked with him over the years. I don't think there is any real predicting what he is going to say or do about an opponent until he does it. So I really don't really know.

The Obama campaign has been saying that there is almost a mathematical impossibility for you to win enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. How do you respond to that?
Well, I find it interesting that a campaign that is supposed to be about hope and inspiration resorts to some kind of mathematical argument. As we move towards the final stage of this nominating process, it would be hard for this race to be any closer. After 25 million voters have voted, we are basically tied in the popular vote. The delegate count is plus or minus two percent separating us. It has been a spirited primary, which I think is all for the good and there are still millions of voters that haven't voted yet — that want to make sure their voices are heard. I feel very good about where I am in this race, because the comparisons are being drawn, questions are being asked and I think that if people ask themselves who would be the best President to manage the economy and who would be prepared to be Commander-in-Chief on Day One that is to my benefit. I am not asking voters to make a mathematical calculation. I am asking them to make a reasoned decision about who they would hire for this job.

With all of the voters paying attention — caring passionately one way or another — would they somehow feel disappointed if in the end a group of superdelegates who are not elected would make the final decision about who the Democratic Party nominee is?
Oh I think we have a ways to go before we know what is going to happen, obviously. I feel that the campaign has really reached a critical point, which I welcome because I think this is the toughest job in the world [and] whoever is vying for it should be tested and questioned. That is certainly something I have been through and understand the territory that goes with this candidacy. And voters are prepared to have that same opportunity — to be sure they got all the information they need before they make their decision. I think it is a historic race, so obviously it is exciting. We are both bringing so many more people into the campaign. They are energized, really very passionate about this campaign. Voters want this to continue. They don't want it to be over. I think that surprised a lot of the observers who were taken aback — number one because I did so well yesterday — but also in some of the public polling. More than two-thirds of Democrats say "No, This has got to go on." And they need it to go on, because they are still trying to make up their minds and that is true of every kind of delegate and every kind of voter.