Obama sharpens spiel in Pa. tour

HARRISBURG - From Philadelphia to the state capital, Barack Obama's whistle-stop tour rolled across Pennsylvania yesterday, his attacks on Hillary Rodham Clinton getting tougher as his train headed west.

With the primary only a few days away and his national poll numbers slipping, Obama aimed his sights squarely on his rival for the Democratic presidential nomination and the way he said she was conducting her campaign.

"She seems to have a habit of saying whatever it is folks want to hear," he told about 1,500 listeners in the parking lot of the train station at Downingtown, the third stop for his four-car train, which was decked out in red-white-and-blue bunting.

"She campaigned for NAFTA, then she started running for president," he said. "Suddenly, she's been against NAFTA since it began. She voted for what was called an authorization to have U.S. military forces in Iraq. She said that wasn't . . . a vote for war, that was a vote for diplomacy."

Then Obama, his white shirtsleeves rolled up, turned to Clinton's political tactics, which he described as representing the politics that he is trying to change.

"She's got the kitchen sink flying, the china flying, the buffet is coming at me," he said. "I come from Chicago. I know politics is hard. It's not for the faint of heart. I understand that."

Last night in Harrisburg, Obama added: "Sen. Clinton would be vastly better than President Bush would be. But that's a very low bar."

Even as the Illinois senator was decrying what he called her "slash-and-burn politics," his campaign was conducting a conference call for reporters featuring Pennsylvania veterans of the U.S. military effort in Bosnia in the 1990s.

The point of the call was to raise again the fact that Clinton said recently that as first lady she had landed in that region under sniper fire – which isn't true.

At the first stop, Wynnewood, where Obama was greeted by a sun-drenched crowd estimated at 6,000, he talked about "distractions" of the last week.

"I'm not interested in having a debate about flag pins," Obama said, referring to Wednesday night's question about why he doesn't wear an American flag pin in his lapel. "I'm interested in having a debate about putting people back to work, about ending the war in Iraq, about getting our kids to college."

And he had a few words for the presumptive Republican nominee, criticizing John McCain's positions on the economy and the war. Those comments, too, got more pointed as the day wore on.

"We can't afford another four years of George W. Bush in the guise of John McCain," he said at Downingtown.

After leaving Wynnewood, the train stopped in Paoli, Downingtown, Lancaster and Harrisburg - for a nighttime rally on the illuminated steps of the Capitol, with thousands of chanting supporters surrounding him on all sides.

Besides the rallies, there were "slow rolls" through Bryn Mawr, Wayne and Parkesburg. As the Amtrak train inched passed those stations, Obama and Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D., Pa.) stood on the rear platform and greeted those who came out to watch.

Casey waved – "Boy, that's a tough job I've got out there," he quipped – while the candidate used a microphone to greet the crowds along the tracks.

In Bryn Mawr, with another train approaching, Obama had to shout: "Get off the track guys, there's a train coming." They did.

The plush, blue car in which Obama rode was the Georgia 300, built in 1930. Now privately owned, it has been used by numerous presidents and presidential candidates in recent years. It has a kitchen, two living-room areas, and a small bedroom.

Obama started the day canvassing in the Mayfair section of Northeast Philadelphia with Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D., Pa.). The senator is scheduled to campaign today in Reading, Scranton and points in between.

Polls show him running about 5 or 6 points behind Clinton in Pennsylvania, about where he's been for the last 10 days or so.

The results of the national tracking surveys, though, have shifted dramatically in Clinton's direction since the debate Wednesday night. The Gallup Poll, which had Obama up by double digits a week ago, had Clinton up by 1 yesterday.