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April 21, 2008

Clinton, Obama get nasty just days before primary

Candidates launch TV attack ads and criticize each other in speeches across the state.

DAVID ESPO and BETH FOUHY Associated Press Writers

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama swapped some of the most negative attacks of the campaign two days before the Pennsylvania primary, each unleashing television ads Sunday that accused the other of maintaining ties to special interests they both claim to reject.

Obama also paid the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting a backhanded compliment. “Either Democrat would be better than John McCain,” he told an audience in Reading. “And all three of us would be better than George Bush.”

That drew a feisty rebuke from Clinton, who said, “We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer on John McCain.”

Two days before the Pennsylvania primary with 158 delegates at stake, Obama and Clinton observed the rituals of Sunday campaigning: a visit to church, stops at restaurants catering to families, as many public events as possible.

And blanketing the state with attack ads.

“In the last 10 years Barack Obama has taken almost $2 million from lobbyists, corporations and PACs. The head of his New Hampshire campaign is a drug company lobbyist, in Indiana an energy lobbyist, a casino lobbyist in Nevada,” said a new Clinton commercial airing in the campaign’s final days.

If anything, Obama upped the ante with his rebuttal. His ad said he “doesn’t take money from special interest PACs or Washington lobbyists – not one dime.” Clinton does, it added, and accused her of “eleventh-hour smears paid for by lobbyist money ....”

Preprimary polls show Clinton with a lead in the state she must win to sustain her candidacy.

Overall, Obama has 1,646 delegates to 1,508 for Clinton in the Associated Press’ count, with 2,025 needed to clinch the nomination.

He also leads Clinton by 1,414-1,250 among delegates won in primaries and caucuses, while she has the advantage, 258-232, among superdelegates, the party officials who attend the convention by virtue of their positions.

More than 300 superdelegates remain publicly uncommitted and, in interviews, many told the AP they want a candidate who can capture the White House. At the same time, others said that before deciding which contender to support, they will give special weight to the candidate with the most delegates won in primaries or caucuses, or the one who won their state or congressional district.

Even Clinton’s allies concede she must win the Pennsylvania primary, and some have suggested she needs a sizable victory if she is to have a chance of overtaking Obama. But as was the case in other states, a strong popular vote win would not necessarily translate into a major gain in delegates for the former first lady.

In Bethlehem, Clinton said the Obama campaign had abandoned its pledge to remain positive and stick to issues.

“While my opponent says one thing and his campaign does another, you can count on me to tell you where I stand and you can count on me to tell you very specifically the solutions I’m offering for America,” she said.

Obama said he hasn’t taken money from federal lobbyists and scolded Clinton for suggesting he has.

The Illinois senator also was running a commercial critical of Clinton’s health care proposals in what his aides said was a response to an ad aired by an independent group that supports the former first lady.

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