Toledo, OHIO - Sen. Hillary Clinton’s political fortunes may be slipping, but on Monday some of her most solid supporters — older, working women — gave her some good cheer during a pre-dawn campaign stop.

Clinton made an unannounced visit to a Chrysler plant that assembles Jeeps in Toledo, a city in northern Ohio that has struggled from extensive job losses in its once booming manufacturing sector.

She greeted workers arriving for their early morning shifts, most with lunch pails in hand.  “I need your help tomorrow,” she told them, seeking support in Ohio’s primary on Tuesday.

Many of the women reacted with delight and reached out to hug the candidate.

“You look so young!” Kitty Austin, an assembly line worker for 25 years, told her.

“Did everybody hear that?” Clinton asked the small crowd that gathered outside the plant.

Polls show Clinton and Democratic rival Barack Obama in tight races in Ohio and Texas, which both hold nominating contests on Tuesday. After Obama won 11 straight contests, Clinton is looking to win the next showdowns and breathe new life into her campaign.

Austin said she was a Clinton supporter, mostly because of the former first lady’s proposals for health care reform.

“You’re a very strong woman,” Carrie Rucki, another assembly worker, told Clinton. “It takes a good woman to get the job done.” 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton