WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Meeting with reporters the morning after the most contentious debate of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination fight, Hillary Clinton continued to take shots at lead opponent Barack Obama. "What we saw last night was that he's very frustrated," Clinton said of the change in tone that has marked both campaigns in recent weeks. "He clearly came looking for a fight."

Dismissing surrogates and rejecting notions that her campaign is trying to marginalize Obama by describing him as young and African American, Clinton said there are real differences between the two. "We have a big difference on health care. We apparently have a big difference on credit card rates," she said. "Drawing those differences and contrasts is important for voters."

Still, Clinton took on Obama's character as well as his positions. "He has a hard time responding to questions about his record," she said, further explaining that the eventual Republican nominee will attack that record. "Words matter, but actions matter more. And time and time again, we see where words and actions don't match." Clinton also invoked a rival who has attacked her for months but now seems more on her page in the dispute over Obama's "present" votes in the Illinois legislature: "Both Senator [John] Edwards and I believe you can't vote 'present' as president," she said.

Much of the questioning focused on former President Bill Clinton, who in recent days has reportedly received angry phone calls from Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Senator Ted Kennedy urging him to tone down the rhetoric against Obama. Hillary Clinton today downplayed any feuding that goes on at the surrogate level, saying the debate last night showed off what the campaign should be about: "This is between us," she said.

At the end of the day, though, she denied the strife of the primary would negatively effect the party's chances in November. "We will have a unified party once we have a nominee. There's no doubt about that."

On a day that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average open down more than 400 points, Clinton began the press conference addressing what she characterized as "a global crisis that could very well thrust us into a deep recession." Clinton blamed the Bush Administration's policies of the past seven years. Clinton repeated her proposal to freeze mortgage rates for five years and to halt foreclosures for 90 days while urging President Bush to convene the President's Working Group on Financial Markets.

She urged the White House and Congressional leaders, who will meet today to hammer out an agreement on a stimulus package, to find common ground on a bill that can pass quickly and that would deal with the mortgage crisis.

Clinton, who is now on her way to events in California and Arizona, disputed claims that she is essentially abandoning South Carolina in the face of an inevitable Obama victory there. "I have a couple of obligations that I have to meet today and tomorrow," she said of her trip, which takes her to the Northeast tomorrow. "We are running a very vigorous campaign in South Carolina."