Senator Clinton Shifts Her Position on the Iraq Conflict

WASHINGTON — Senator Clinton has said for the first time that she would not have voted for the Iraq war if she had known what she has learned subsequently.

The New York senator has long been seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for the presidential race in 2008 and is edging toward announcing her bid for the White House.

The careful recalibration of Mrs. Clinton's position on the war comes as she is under increasing threat from the rising star of the party, Senator Obama, who as a state official in Illinois was speaking out against the Iraq invasion as the former first lady was voting for it.

"Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn't have been a vote, and I certainly wouldn't have voted that way," Mrs. Clinton told NBC television.

Mr. Obama, 45, is riding a wave of press hype and popular adulation despite having been a senator for just two years, and he appears certain to declare his candidacy early next year. Part of his appeal is that he is a new face who has a warm and natural manner. He is also untainted by the Iraq war.

In contrast, Mrs. Clinton, 59, has a reputation for being formidably disciplined and calculating but lacks the freewheeling campaign skills of her husband.

Mrs. Clinton has been haunted by her vote in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq, which angered the left and threatens to prevent her winning the primaries despite having raised more money and developed a wider network of aides and supporters than her rivals.

Previously viewed as on the liberal wing of her party, many Democrats have been disappointed at her hawkish positions since she became a senator for New York in 2001 and have accused her of cynically positioning herself for a presidential run.

With the increasing unpopularity of the Iraq war, Mrs. Clinton's pro-war position has come to be seen as not only out of step with the mainstream of her party but also with a majority of Americans. Aides advised her that she was vulnerable to Mr. Obama and needed to stake out a new position on Iraq.

Until now, Mrs. Clinton had resisted saying she had voted the wrong way. Both Senators Kerry and Edwards, among her Democratic rivals, voted for the resolution but then publicly declared they had made a mistake and became advocates for troop withdrawals.