Pa. voters weigh in on hard-edged Democratic contest
Updated: 2008-04-22 21:48
"I had to be here to vote, and I pray that Obama does make a big change in a very positive way," said Triplett, a "65-plus" woman from Levittown who works with the disabled.
In Allentown, where a line snaked out the door at First Presbyterian Church, 68-year-old Ellen Woolley, who works in finance, went for Clinton. Obama, she said, is a "marvelous speaker, but I really don't hear a lot of substance."
The Illinois senator and his wife, Michelle, addressed a rally at the University Pittsburgh on Monday night. They were joined by Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry.
Heinz Kerry noted that her husband carried Pennsylvania in the general election. "I'm asking you to keep this streak going," she said.
In Philadelphia, Clinton appeared with her husband, the former president, and their daughter, Chelsea, before a crowd at the University of Pennsylvania.
"It's not enough to say 'Yes we can.' We have to say how we can," Clinton told the crowd, putting a twist on Obama's popular slogan of hope.
The Pennsylvania contest turned sharply negative in its closing days as Obama cast doubts on his rival's honesty and trustworthiness. Clinton, in turn, questioned whether Obama was tough enough for the rigors of the Oval Office.
The campaigns tangled Monday over a new Clinton television ad that invoked images of Osama bin Laden - the first time a Democratic candidate has used the mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the 2008 race for the White House.
"Harry Truman said it best, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.' Who do you think has what it takes?" the ad says, as a picture of bin Laden and other national emergencies - from Hurricane Katrina to the fall of the Berlin Wall - flash on the screen.
The Obama campaign moved quickly to counter the message, airing a response ad within hours that challenged Clinton's 2002 vote authorizing the US invasion of Iraq.
Obama addressed the matter himself at the Pittsburgh rally.
"My job as commander in chief is to keep you safe. That will be my number one task," adding, "The war in Iraq was unwise."
Clinton also was grilled about the ad by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, one of a series of national television interviews the New York senator gave on Monday.
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