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THE RACE FOR PRESIDENT 2008

By MIKE GLOVER and NEDRA PICKLER Associated Press Writers

HERSHEY — Barack Obama and John McCain fought for votes Tuesday on critical ground in Pennsylvania, the only Democratic state McCain is still contesting on a national political map growing increasingly daunting. With just one week to go, GOP doubts about his chances for the presidency grew louder.

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GOP candidate Sen. John McCain greets supporters as he leaves a rally at the Giant Center in Hershey Tuesday.

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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama speaks at a rally at James Madison University Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va., on Tuesday.

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Even two Republicans once on McCain’s short list for vice president sounded skeptical. In a fundraising e-mail on behalf of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Mitt Romney referred to “the very real possibility of an Obama presidency.” In the Midwest, Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave a dour assessment of McCain’s chances in his state, saying Obama “has a pretty good advantage in Minnesota right now.”

Nationally, a poll by the Pew Research Center found Obama with a 16-point lead among registered voters. The survey said Obama had 52 percent and McCain 36 percent, with independent voters supporting the Democrat by a 48-31 margin.

The candidates kicked off their final week of campaigning in the southeastern corner of this battleground state, which hasn’t supported a Republican presidential candidate in 20 years but where Obama is ahead in the polls.

“I’m not afraid of the fight, I’m ready for it,” McCain told noisy supporters at a rally in this Republican region that is home to the world’s largest chocolate factory.

Obama’s advisers say they are confident of victory in the state. Still, they sent the candidate to rally supporters in Pittsburgh Monday night and to the battleground Philadelphia suburbs on Tuesday. About 9,000 people stood in the mud and cold rain at Widener University to hear him.

“I just want all of you to know that if we see this kind of dedication on Election Day, there is no way that we’re not going to bring change to America,” said Obama, uncharacteristically attired in jeans, sneakers and a raincoat. McCain canceled a second event 50 miles away in Quakertown because of the dismal weather.

McCain appeared with running mate Sarah Palin, who planned to stay in the state for another rally in Shippensburg.

If McCain doesn’t win the state’s 21 electoral votes, it’s hard to see how he can win the presidency since Obama is expected to pick up several of the states that helped re-elect President Bush four years ago. McCain needs one of the blue states to make up for expected losses in the red ones.

Both candidates were leaving Pennsylvania for later rallies in GOP strongholds that have turned into battleground states — McCain to North Carolina and Obama to Virginia. McCain is increasingly playing defense in states that have been reliably Republican.