Obama casts race between him and McCain

Polls show Obama closing the gap in Penn. versus Hillary


Go to AP original
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Sen. Barack Obama is talking about the elephant in the room — Republican rival John McCain — and all but ignoring the Democrat who stands between him and his party's presidential nomination.

Even though Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was campaigning miles down the Northeast Extension in Philadelphia, Obama criticized the likely Republican nominee's policies on the U.S. troop presence in Iraq, trade and tax cuts. In his town-hall session Tuesday, and in other campaign appearances in recent days, Obama has sought to frame the race as a general election matchup between him and McCain.

Of course, there's the little matter of a Pennsylvania primary on April 22, and Clinton's double-digit lead in recent state polls.

more...

Also:
Poll: Obama closing the gap in Penn. primary

Go to Philadelphia Inquirer original
For the last week, Barack Obama has been grabbing and then extending a national lead among Democratic primary voters. But it was unclear whether that mojo extended to Pennsylvania, where Hillary Clinton's support -- especially among blue-collar whites -- appeared rock solid.

Now comes the first evidence that Obama is closing the gap in Pennsylvania: a new Rasmussen Reports poll.

The poll of 730 Democratic primary voters in the Keystone State, dated yesterday, shows Clinton's once double-digit lead over Obama is down to just five points -- 47 percent to 42 percent -- with 11 percent not certain who'd they vote for.

more...