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A six-week, increasingly caustic
Pennsylvania primary contest between Democrats Hillary Rodham
Clinton and Barack Obama culminated Tuesday as voters registered
their choice - a decision that could save or sink Clinton's
flagging candidacy.

The candidates questioned each other's character and readiness
to be commander in chief in last-minute television ads and
barnstormed the state in a final pitch for votes in the most
populous and delegate-rich state remaining in the nominating
contest. Some 4 million Democrats were eligible to cast ballots,
with 158 delegates at stake.

Clinton was relying on a decisive win to reinvigorate her
candidacy, while Obama hoped for an upset or a strong enough finish
to secure the delegates needed to maintain his overall lead.

Late polling showed Clinton with a single-digit lead in the
state after besting Obama by 20 points or more in earlier surveys.

As the polls opened at 7 a.m., the candidates engaged in a last
round of sparring in pre-taped interviews aired on network and
cable television.

"What (Obama) has to demonstrate is to win a big state, a big
state that Democrats need to win in order to achieve the
presidency," Clinton told CBS' "The Early Show." "The road to
Pennsylvania Avenue for a Democrat goes right through
Pennsylvania."

Obama, noting Clinton's polling lead, sought to lower
expectations both in TV interviews and as he greeted the breakfast
crowd at a Pittsburgh diner.

"We think we've made enormous progress" though "it's an
uphill battle," Obama said. He noted that polls show a tighter
race than just a few weeks ago but said: "We still, I think, have
to consider ourselves the underdog."

"We've got a great organization. A lot of it's going to
depended on turnout," Obama added.

Sarah Triplett arrived to vote Tuesday long before her suburban
Philadelphia polling place opened and soon had plenty of company.

"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 issue of race in the campaign was renewed when former
President Clinton, asked in an interview broadcast Tuesday with
Philadelphia radio station WHYY about comments he made before the
South Carolina primary, said the Obama campaign "played the race
card on me."

"And we now know, from memos from the campaign and everything,
that they planned to do it all along," Bill Clinton said.

Asked about Clinton's remarks, Obama chuckled and said: "So,
former President Clinton dismissed my victory in South Carolina as
being similiar to Jesse Jackson, and he's suggesting that somehow I
had something to do with it? Ok, well, you'd better ask him what he
meant by that. I have no idea what he meant. These were words that
came out of his mouth, not words that came out of mine."

Obama 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 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 U.S. 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."

Pennsylvania's demographics suit Clinton. The state has a higher
median age, a higher percentage of whites, a lower median household
income and fewer bachelor's degrees than the country overall. These
are the voters - working-class whites and voters older than 50 -
who have flocked to her in past contests.

The Republican primary is also being held Tuesday, but Sen. John
McCain of Arizona is already the certain nominee.

Gallery

Hillary Rodham Clinton ground out a gritty
victory in the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday night, defeating Barack
Obama and staving off elimination in their historic race for the
Democratic presidential nomination.

Pa. voters weigh in on hard-edged Democratic contest

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