Battle for PA: Bitter Voters, Republican Converts and Huge Turnouts for Both Campaigns
By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted April 21, 2008.
For a state that hasn't had a competitive presidential primary in decades, there is enormous voter interest in the Dem candidates.
As Pennsylvania's Primary ended its final weekend of campaigning, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) refined his message of change by saying he was the only candidate who would end Washington's way of doing business, while Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) emphasized that she was better prepared to implement a Democratic agenda as president.
The contrasting leadership styles played out against backdrop of intense public interest in an increasingly blue state that has not seen a competitive presidential primary in decades. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Sunday that there are 325,000 newly registered Democratic voters across the state -- a figure equal to Pittsburgh's population -- with 15 percent telling pollsters they are undecided.
Both candidates brought thousands of people to each of their many events.
On Friday, Obama held his biggest rally yet in any state, drawing 35,000 people in Philadelphia. Still, local political activists predicted Tuesday's vote would be close in Pennsylvania's biggest city, an Obama stronghold, as the both its current mayor and governor -- a past mayor -- are pushing longtime Democrats to support Clinton.
Meanwhile, Clinton has also drawn crowds outside Philadelphia as she and supporters, including former President Bill Clinton, have focused more in the western part of the state, notably in the Pittsburgh and Scranton areas, as the campaign is concluding. She is expected to carry that region and the Lehigh Valley, northwest of Philadelphia.
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http://www.alternet.org/election08/82947/?page=entire
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