Hillary Clinton remained defiant yesterday in the face of Barack Obama’s 14-day winning streak, which has left her desperately needing big state victories next month to prevent dreams of a White House restoration from fading away.

Her twin defeats in Wisconsin and Hawaii on Tuesday mean that she has lost the last ten contests, while her opponent has amassed a delegate lead from Democratic primaries and caucuses that even her own aides acknowledged can only be narrowed before the convention in August.

But Mrs Clinton insisted at a fund-raising event in New York that “this campaign goes on”. She sought to draw sharp distinctions with Mr Obama’s soaring rhetorical flights and her own qualities as a hard-working champion ready to be commander-in-chief from day one — and turn hopes into reality.

“It’s time to get real about how we actually win this election. It’s time that we move from good words to good works, from sound bites to sound solutions,” she said. “Others might be joining a movement. I’m joining you on the night shift, on the day shift.” She cited a Tuesday night TV interview with Kirk Watson, a Texas supporter of Mr Obama, when he could not name a single legislative accomplishment of his candidate. “That is all we’re asking. We’re asking to compare our records.

“We’re asking to compare our years of service, we’re asking to compare our ideas, our solutions.The best words in the world are not enough if you don’t match them with action.”

Tom Buffenbarger, the president of the machinists’ union, put it more bluntly at her rally in Ohio on Tuesday night, telling the crowd: “I’ve got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius-driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust-fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won’t last a round against the Republican attack machine. He’s a poet, not a fighter.”

But in a further sign of his growing appeal to the same working-class constituency, Mr Obama was expected to receive the endorsement of the Teamsters’ union.

Mrs Clinton’s campaign is still counting on the Democratic party’s elite club of 795 super-delegates to come to the rescue and tip the balance her way, as well as possible support from those elected in Florida and Michigan who are currently barred by a rule dispute. But for that to happen, she must halt Mr Obama’s gathering momentum in Ohio and Texas on March 4, before going on to win in other delegate-rich contests such as Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.

The margin and the manner of her defeat in Wisconsin will have been deeply dispiriting for her campaign. It was the type of state where she has previously performed well but Mr Obama peeled off much of her base support among white women and lower income voters in a blue-collar battleground that is seen as a prelude to primaries in industrial states such as Ohio.

Mr Obama’s freshly elevated status in the race was apparently confirmed when television networks abruptly cut away from coverage of Mrs Clinton’s Tuesday night rally when he began to speak in Texas. “Houston, I think we achieved lift-off here,” he said to wild cheers from an ecstatic audience of around 20,000 people.

Mr Obama also has the financial advantage to whittle down her polling leads in Texas and Ohio. Supporters of Mrs Clinton were reported to be seeking $10 million from rich donors for the “American Leadership Project”, a new group operating outside of her campaign and funding laws limiting individual donations to $2,300. It is expected to launch negative advertising against Mr Obama in these looming contests.

Mrs Clinton’s campaign has already spent much of the past week trying to knock Mr Obama out off his stride, accusing him of plagiarism in his speeches, as well as putting renewed emphasis on a perceived lack of foreign policy expertise and links to the indicted fraudster Tony Rezko in Chicago.

Harold Ickes, a senior aide, indicated that she was preparing to pursue this aggressive strategy over the coming two weeks, probably starting with tonight’s TV debate in Texas. “We think Mr Obama is now the front-runner and there will be increased scrutiny of him,” he said. “Questions will be raised that have never been raised before about Senator Obama.”

John McCain, who is the likely Republican nominee, told a rally on Tuesday night: “I will work hard to make sure Americans aren’t deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change.”

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