BURBANK, Calif. — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Barack Obama, had been “timid and unenthusiastic” in his proposals for dealing with the current economic downturn. She also said that Senator John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, would simply continue what she called the failed economic policies of President Bush.

Mrs. Clinton, on the other hand, called herself “Paulette Revere,” having warned for more than a year of an impending slide in housing and financial markets and the broader economy.



“I have continued to sound the alarm,” she said at an airport press conference in Burbank, Calif. “Sometimes I feel like Paulette Revere: The recession is coming, the recession is coming. I hope someone will do something about this besides wring their hands, which is not in the best interest of our country.”

Mrs. Clinton repeated the assertion she made in a campaign advertisement on Wednesday that she was the best equipped candidate in either party to answer a 3 a.m. phone call on an economic crisis.



“Senator McCain would simply continue the failed economic strategy that has brought us record deficits and a recession under President Bush,” she said. “We need a candidate who can win this debate over the economy.”

Asked whether she believed Mr. Obama could not win that debate, she equivocated.

“I am running because I think I could be the best president,” she said.

She denied reports that she had told Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico that Mr. Obama could not win a general election campaign against Mr. McCain. Mr. Richardson endorsed Mr. Obama last month, setting off charges of betrayal by Clinton partisans.

While saying that she did not discuss private conversations, Mrs. Clinton said she had always couched her electability argument in positive terms. She said she thought she would be the best candidate and the best president.

“I have consistently made the case that I can win because I believe I can win,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I can win. I know I can win. That’s why I do this every day.”

Mrs. Clinton has said in the past that she and Mr. McCain are qualified to be commander in chief and Mr. Obama is not. Her advisers have also explicitly questioned Mr. Obama’s suitability for the Oval Office. And it is a central conceit of the Clinton campaign that she would be a much stronger general election candidate against Mr. McCain. They base their conclusion on her performance in big states and among groups of voters she and her advisers consider to be key parts of a winning Democratic coalition – women, Catholics, Latinos and lower-income voters.