In a speech Monday in Washington, D.C., Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) again drew distinctions between herself and opponent Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and attempted to portray herself as a safe bet for voters concerned about foreign policy. “The American people don’t have to guess whether I understand the issues, or whether I would need a foreign policy instruction manual to guide me through a crisis, or whether I’d have to rely on advisers to introduce me to global affairs,” she said.

Obama advisers countered that Clinton has shown poor foreign policy judgment (BaltSun), such as her vote to authorize the war against Iraq.

Former Democratic candidate Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) will endorse Obama today, the Hartford Courant reports.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Monday if he does not successfully convince the public that U.S. policy in Iraq is working, he will lose the general election. He then retracted the statement (AP), but said: “I don’t think there’s any doubt that how they judge Iraq will have a direct relation to their judgment of me, my support of the surge.”