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Sanders and Kasich barnstorm Pa.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took their presidential campaigns to Pennsylvania's voters Thursday as each made a swing through the state in anticipation of Tuesday's primary.

Bernie Sanders at a rally at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Montgomery County. His backers started arriving three hours before his scheduled start time.
Bernie Sanders at a rally at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Montgomery County. His backers started arriving three hours before his scheduled start time.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders took their presidential campaigns to Pennsylvania's voters Thursday as each made a swing through the state in anticipation of Tuesday's primary.

Kasich, competing with Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination, spent time with the Inquirer Editorial Board before attending rallies in Delaware and Chester Counties. Sanders spoke to supporters at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, Montgomery County.

Kasich, who trails both Cruz and Trump, first visited offices of the Inquirer and the Daily News in Center City, where he extolled his chances in a general election race against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

"I'm the only one who wins," Kasich told the journalists, referring to a string of public opinion surveys that show he would fare better against Clinton than either Trump or Cruz. "I win in the fall - 15 polls in a row."

Listen to the full interview here:

Polls show Trump with a large lead in Pennsylvania, and Kasich and Cruz in a tight battle behind him.

The Ohio governor, who grew up in a working-class suburb of Pittsburgh, has the support of prominent GOP leaders, including former Govs. Dick Thornburgh and Tom Ridge. But he acknowledged it has been tough to raise money.

"Frankly, we don't have a hell of a lot of resources, OK?" Kasich said. "I mean, if you took a look at how much I've spent and raised and looked at these other folks, it's like 50 to 1."

Later, speaking to a crowd in Delaware County, Kasich pitched himself as the most experienced and civil choice for Republicans.

"This is extremely boring, because I'm not yelling at anybody or calling somebody a name," he told a few hundred supporters who filled the gymnasium at Penn State Brandywine.

"I don't remember a sense of rage when I was a kid. Today . . . anger sells. Strife sells. But I don't think that's where we want to live, is it?"

Kasich spoke at the Chester County Republicans' spring fund-raiser at the Valley Forge Casino Resort on Thursday evening, which about 500 people paid $250 to attend.

Delegate math and New York primary results notwithstanding, Sanders fans started pouring into the huge Oaks center three hours ahead of his scheduled arrival.

Shai Fishman, 42, of Newtown, took a selfie with his girlfriend, Inga Mitchell-DiMicco, 28, before the speakers started.

"I have a bit of a man crush on Bernie Sanders," Fishman said.

When he finally took the stage to the roar of the crowd, Sanders did not sound like a candidate who had just suffered a big defeat in New York state.

He opened by pointing to statements Vice President Biden had made commending his aspirational campaign style.

Biden, who has said neither he nor President Obama will endorse in the primary, told the New York Times, "I like the idea of saying, 'We can do much more,' because we can."

"Thinking big is not really that radical," Sanders said. "What it says is, we're going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent."

As he spoke, the hall filled with the chant of his name.

Sanders criticized Clinton's failure to release the transcripts of paid speeches she gave to Wall Street banks, her position on free trade, and her vote for the war in Iraq. He voiced his support for striking Verizon workers, a nationwide ban on fracking, expanding social security, and increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

He said his campaign "is about looking the realty of America straight in the eye and saying we can and will do much better."

"A great nation is not judged by the size of its defense budget or the number of nuclear missiles it has," Sanders said. "A great nation is judged from a moral perspective, on how it treats the weakest and most vulnerable people."

In need of a victory Tuesday to bolster his flagging campaign, Sanders urged Pennsylvania voters to a record turnout.

"Let us see Pennsylvania," he said, "lead this country into the political revolution."