I was a cutie in high school: Hillary

New York: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton accused her Republican challenger of getting into ''swampy territory'' after he was quoted Monday as saying that Clinton was unattractive when she was younger and that she had a lot of work done on herself.

Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson said Clinton has had no plastic surgery or similar appearance-enhancing work.

''I'm not sure what's worse, that Mr Spencer made these insulting comments or that instead of owning up and apologising for them, he is lying about them,'' Wolfson added. ''Either way, it's clear that he is unfit for the US Senate.''

Clinton joked with reporters during her stop in Watervliet that ''my high-school picture was cute.'' It was also on the tabloid's front page.

John Spencer denied discussing the senator's looks during a conversation with a New York Daily News reporter.

The tabloid quoted Spencer as saying: ''You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew. I don't know why Bill married her.''

Spencer, former mayor of the New York City suburb of Yonkers, was also quoted as saying that Clinton underwent millions of dollars of ''work'' and ''looks good now.''

During a campaign stop at a senior citizens center in Watervliet, just outside Albany, Clinton said: ''It's unfortunate that, when you don't have anything positive to say about the issues, that we can get off in some pretty swampy territory.''

After the newspaper came out, Spencer said the comments were ''a fabrication. I would never call Hillary Clinton ugly. That's outrageous. I didn't do it.''

The newspaper's front-page headline screamed ''Getting Ugly.''

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The reporter, Ben Smith, spoke with Spencer during a flight Friday from New York City to Rochester. He told the AP that Spencer made the comments as Spencer, his wife and Smith sat together. He said he did not tape-record the comments but took notes on his Blackberry.

Polls have shown Clinton, 58, far ahead of the craggy-faced, 59-year-old Spencer in the Senate race. Congressional elections are November 7.

Also Monday, Clinton responded to news that her fellow Democrat, Sen. Barak Obama, is thinking about running for president in 2008, saying she thought it was great.

Polls show Clinton is the front-runner among potential 2008 Democratic presidential contenders. She said Friday during a debate with Spencer that she has also been thinking about running but has made no decision about it. She said if that bothered New York voters, they should consider it when they go to vote next month.

''I think it's great that anybody thinks about whatever they want to do in the future,'' she said when asked about Obama.

''I'm focused on my campaign'' for re-election to the US Senate, she said. ''I'm focused on reaching as many voters as possible, talking about the issues. And, that's what I'm going to be doing for the next few weeks.''

Obama said during an appearance on NBC television's ''Meet the Press'' on Sunday that he was thinking about running for president.

He was largely unknown nationally until he delivered a widely acclaimed address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.