Obama: Clinton a polarizing figure

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Barack Obama said Sunday his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, is a polarizing figure for Republicans.

Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," the Illinois senator said his colleague from New York would represent a very polarizing figure for the Republican Party should she win the Democrats' nod.

Obama had previously made the same point while campaigning in Colorado.

"Well, I think there's some history there, not all of Sen. Clinton's making," Obama told the program's host, Bob Schieffer. "But I don't think there's any doubt that the Republicans consider her a polarizing figure."

With the two candidates in a close race for their party's nomination, Obama said his openness to alternative points of view would give him an advantage in a general election against a Republican foe.

"And I think that we can attract independents and Republicans in a way that Sen. Clinton cannot," he added.