In his April 5 New York Daily News column, Michael Goodwin wrote that because Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) first-quarter fundraising total rivals that of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Clinton has “less room for error, which means she better put the muzzle and the leash on Bubba” -- a reference to Sen. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton.

In a recent USA Today/Gallup poll, 70 percent of respondents thought that President Clinton “will do more good than harm” for Sen. Clinton's presidential campaign.

Goodwin also claimed that Clinton “mostly ducks serious interviews as though she doesn't want to say anything controversial.” In fact, on March 13, Clinton gave a lengthy interview to The New York Times about her position on the war in Iraq. Clinton's interview, according to the Times, is “the first in a series of interviews with the 2008 presidential candidates in both parties about how they would handle the issues they would confront as president.”

From Goodwin's April 5 New York Daily News column:

So despite how Obama rocked her boat yesterday, and despite all the doubts, Hillary remains on course to get the nomination. It's going to be a grind and not as sure as it looked. And now there is less room for error, which means she better put the muzzle and the leash on Bubba.

But she can't get too cautious, either. The answer to the Obama cash is for her to sharpen her game and speed up her metabolism. She often looks like she's in a celebrity bubble, waving, doling out hugs and spewing platitudes like a visiting dignitary. There is no spontaneity, no raw energy for the quest. She mostly ducks serious interviews as though she doesn't want to say anything controversial. One concerned supporter described the rationale of her campaign as “inevitability,” which isn't exactly a turn-on to voters.