WP: Obama Not Ready to Cede Pennsylvania
By Shailagh Murray
The April 22 Pennsylvania primary poses a tricky challenge for Sen. Barack Obama. Downplay the contest and the risk is a blowout by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But if the Illinois senator campaigns hard there and Clinton still wins handily, a loss could be tougher to spin.
David Axelrod, Obama's chief political strategist, told reporters on a conference call this morning that the campaign would go all out to win the Keystone State. "We are going to contest vigorously in Pennsylvania," he said. "We're going to be running a full campaign."
Obama heads tomorrow to Monaca, Pa., west of Pittsburgh, and then to Scranton, where he will address an Irish women's group. Both are located in the heart of Clinton territory. The state's older, blue-collar voter base skews against Obama, but another problem is Pennsylvania's relatively strict participation rules. Primary voters must register as Democrats as of March 24, nearly a full month before election day. Obama is running radio ads in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to urge students, independents and Republicans -- three key constituencies to keep the race close -- to register as Democrats before the deadline.
"She does have a lot of advantages and we recognize that," said Axelrod." "We know we have an uphill fight there. But we're going to fight for every vote and every delegate." Obama reportedly told a group of donors earlier this week that losing Pennsylvania by 10 points or less would be a "victory."
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/16/obama_not_ready_to_cede_pennsy.html?hpid=topnews