AP Photo Clinton: If race is about records, ‘I’m going to win by a landslide' A double-digit deficit to Sanders won't keep her from campaigning.

Hillary Clinton, a 17.5-percentage point underdog in New Hampshire, will not stop trying to gain ground on Bernie Sanders ahead of Tuesday’s first-in-the-nation primary.

“A lot of political pundits have been opining that I should have just skipped coming to New Hampshire,” Clinton said at a rally in Derry on Wednesday. “Well, their argument is, look, you're behind here — I am — you're in your opponent’s backyard, New Hampshire always favors neighbors, which I think is neighborly. Maybe you should have just moved onto these states…”


That thinking, Clinton said, is bunk.

“I just could not ever skip New Hampshire,” Clinton said. “I cannot even imagine not being here, not being in settings like this and where I was yesterday in Nashua, where I'll be later today and the day after. I'm going to be out here making my case, answering your questions, doing everything I can to persuade you to come out and vote next Tuesday.”

And she wouldn't concede defeat: “I hope we keep it on the issues, because if it’s about our records, hey, I’m going to win by a landslide,” Clinton declared.

The Sanders' campaign balked at Clinton's suggestion that New Hampshire voters were motivated by proximity, rather than ideology.

"Whether it’s equal pay, more secure retirement or affordable health care, the people of New Hampshire will go to the polls Tuesday and vote for the candidate they believe will fight for them," spokesman Michael Briggs said in a statement. "To repeatedly suggest otherwise is an insult to voters in the Granite State."

It was part of a day of back-and-forth sniping between the Clinton and Sanders camps.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook earlier accusing Sanders of resorting to negative attacks. In an MSNBC interview Wednesday, Sanders said he didn't like Clinton's high speaking fees after he was asked about them.

"I'm disappointed to see Bernie Sanders making these negative kinds of personal attacks. This is something he pledged not to do," Mook said. "He said he was a different kind of politician so it's disappointing to see that."

Mook also worked to temper expectations, saying Clinton is looking to tighten the gap in New Hampshire.

Clinton was officially declared the winner of the Democratic Iowa caucuses Tuesday, besting Sanders by margin of a 0.3 percentage points, but has struggled in recent weeks to diminish Sanders’ grip, as he has led in every state poll since early January.

Just eight years ago, she defeated then-Sen. Barack Obama in New Hampshire’s primary, with 39.1 percent support to Obama’s 36.5 percent. And the former secretary of state believes she has the record “to win by a landslide” in 2016. Joel Benenson, a senior strategist for Obama’s 2008 campaign and Clinton’s chief strategist and pollster, likened her uphill battle to 2008 and maintained that she can win again.

“It’s important to remember that in 2008, you know, three, four days out, a lot of the polls had her down anywhere from 10 to 15 points,” Benenson said Wednesday on CNN. “And three days later she, you know, had a close win over then-Sen. Obama. So I think she knows firsthand what it takes to win here.”

With former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley suspending his campaign following a dismal outcome in Iowa, the Democratic contest is now officially Clinton versus Sanders. Clinton has responded to the Sanders’ rise by agreeing in principle to adding more debates beyond the Democratic National Committee’s initial six-event schedule. Her campaign was initially reluctant to speak out on her opponents’ calls for more debates.

Both sides in recent days have sparred over additions to the schedule — Clinton had called out Sanders on Tuesday to debate her in his own backyard this week (He said Wednesday he will), and Sanders has been pushing for a debate in Brooklyn ahead of New York’s primary (Clinton’s campaign hasn’t budged).

The DNC has agreed to sanction an MSNBC debate Thursday. It will be moderated by Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow, and give Clinton an additional opportunity to distinguish herself from Sanders in New Hampshire. The candidates will also participate in a New Hampshire town hall Wednesday night.

Annie Karni and Eliza Collins contributed to this report.

