After spending about a week on the campaign trail attacking Barack Obama over Health Care, Social Security, and his commitment to women’s rights, Hillary Clinton has gone back to emphasizing what she would do as president.

Gone are the frequent mentions of Obama by name, or even the veiled slaps at “some of my opponents” who have health care plans that won’t cover everyone. She’s even gone back to a line her husband used when he campaigned for her in July, saying it’s great to be a Democrat because there are so many fantastic candidates that “you don’t have to be against anyone.”

It could be because she’s been more focused on organizing Iowans to get to the caucuses — campaigning with her mother and daughter last week to ask experienced supporters to “buddy up” with first time caucus goers and make sure they get to their precincts on January 3rd. Or it could be because the attacks earned her a lot of negative press and some negative feeling among Iowans — and didn’t reverse a general downward trend in the polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, and nationally.

Asked whether she’d given up the attacks because of sinking poll numbers, Sen Clinton told reporters that she would continue to draw distinctions with her opponents throughout the rest of the primary season. Watch what she had to say.done

As ABC’s Jake Tapper reports, even if those “contrasts” have stopped coming from Hillary’s mouth, they’re still flying through the mail.

In Clear Lake, IA, the city where the music died, the Clinton hits on Barack Obama just kept on coming. One month to the day before the Iowa caucuses — and in the Surf Ballroom where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper played their last concert in 1959 — Hillary bopped Obama on health care (his plan leaves out 15 million Americans), Social Security (he’s repeating Republican talking points by saying it’s in crisis, and would institute a $1 trillion tax hike), and Iran (he failed to show up for that important vote to call the Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group, but later used it to attack her).

But there were some new wrinkles today, including taking Obama to task for voting not “yes” or “no,” but “present” 7 times as a state senator in Illinois on issues like abortion and gun violence.

“A president can’t pick and choose which challenges he or she will face,” she said. “Instead of looking for political cover or taking a pass, we need a president who will take a stand.”

Without mentioning him by name, Hillary also dismissed the Obama argument that her long tenure in Washington makes her ill-equipped to bring about real change — saying “you decide what makes sense – entrust our country to someone who is ready on day one to make the decisions and the changes we need, or to put America in the hands of someone with little national or international experience who started running for president has soon as he arrived in the United States Senate.”

Obama’s campaign responded with a long list of press clippings defending those “present” votes. Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement saying “The truth is, Barack Obama doesn’t need lectures in political courage from someone who followed George Bush to war in Iraq, gave him the benefit of the doubt on Iran, supported NAFTA and opposed ethanol until she decided to run for President.”

And asked about the increasing frequency of the attacks, Obama replied, “it’s silly season.”

After a few good days in the press following her strong comeback performance at Thursday’s debate in Las Vegas, Hillary’s obviously feeling confident — confident enough to rip into her chief Democratic competitor Barack Obama on the stump.

Picking up the Sheet Metal Workers endorsement in Vegas, she criticized Obama’s health care plan for failing to cover every American, and said she’s sick of Democrats repeating Republican talking points on Social Security.

HRC’s played the frontrunner since she got in the race, rarely even acknowledging that she HAS opponents for the Democratic nomination, much less mentioning them by name. But after getting rave reviews for counter-punching on health care and social security at the debate, Hillaryland obviously feels that its time to go on offense not just against Republicans, but against her primary competitors as well.

After ripping Hillary Clinton for her vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Iran amendment this week, Barack Obama added a new line of attack in Iowa over the weekend — accusing her of dodging the issue of Social Security.

At a campaign stop in the Hawkeye state, Obama announced the endorsement of Tod Bowman — an Iowa resident who asked Clinton how she’d keep the system solvent. The New York Senator failed to give a direct answer on the stage, but told him after the event that she’d consider an additional Social Security tax on individuals making more than $200,000 a year. That comment was overheard by an AP reporter.

Obama accused her of ducking the issue in public, saying “a candidate for president owes it to the American people to tell us where they stand.”
And in a new TV ad on the issue, Obama goes after the politics of calculation and triangulation he’s accused Clinton of personifying — saying, “I don’t want to just put my finger out to the wind and see what the polls say. I want to bring the country together to solve a problem.

Clinton’s Iowa spokesman Mark Daley said, “Maybe he should focus on explaining to Iowans why a few months ago he said that everything was on the table, including raising the retirement age, but today says he opposes it. Sen. Clinton has been clear about her position on Social Security.”

But while she’s consistently said she’ll oppose any effort to privatize Social Security, the only other aspect of the issue she’s been clear about is where it fits into her domestic priorities. On a recent campaign swing through Iowa and points West, Clinton told voters that Social Security is fine for now, and is not a pressing issue for her. And when asked specifically about additional taxes on those making $200K+, she said only that she’d consider every possible solution. Watch what she had to say.