Pennsylvania presidential primary ending on nasty note

WASHINGTON — The final push in the Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary is ending on an unusually nasty note, with TV ads featuring images of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and amid signs that Hillary Clinton is beginning the most crucial stretch of her campaign more than $1 million in debt.

Clinton, seeking a strong finish in Tuesday's primary to keep her White House hopes alive, began airing an ad Monday emphasizing her ability to handle "the toughest job in the world." It featured images of bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and the damage Hurricane Katrina caused in New Orleans.

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," the ad narrator says. "Who do you think has what it takes?" the narrator adds, underscoring the Clinton message - that Obama, a first-term senator from Illinois, lacks the experience to be commander in chief.

Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton, reacting to the new Clinton ad, noted that the Republican Party during George W. Bush's presidency had used TV ads featuring images of bin Laden against Democrats, most notably, then-Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia in 2002.

"It's ironic that she would borrow the president's tactics in her own campaign and invoke bin Laden to score political points," Burton said. "We already have a president who plays the politics of fear, and we don't need another."

Clinton is favored to win Tuesday's primary in Pennsylvania. Most polls show her ahead, but not with the double-digit lead she held just weeks ago. And many experts have suggested that she needs a big margin of victory in the Keystone State if she is to have any chance of preventing Obama from claiming the party's nomination at the national convention in August.

"Her only hope is to make the evidence of his popularity among pledged delegates seem murky, irrelevant or illegitimate," said Nathaniel Persily, an expert on politics at Columbia Law School.

Recent polling also indicates that in the six weeks since the last major primaries, the economy has soared past Iraq as the top problem on the minds of voters. In a new Associated Press-Yahoo News poll, 67 percent of Americans said the economy is an extremely important issue in the presidential campaign, up from 46 percent in November. The war in Iraq - the dominant issue for several years - stands at 48 percent.

Linda Lynch, a 36-year-old school bus driver from Honey Grove, Pa., supports Clinton because she sees her as an effective advocate for working class Americans. As for Obama, she said, "not interested," adding, "There is not a spark there for me."

But Keith Gargus, an unemployed furniture salesman from Coatesville, Pa., said Obama offers the best hope for people suffering through tough economic times. "There is nothing real being created by industry," he said, noting the growing scarcity of manufacturing jobs in his home state.

Obama, campaigning Monday in Scranton, predicted a Clinton victory Tuesday, but said he would keep it close. "I'm not predicting a win," he told Pittsburgh radio station KDKA. "I'm predicting it's going to be close and that we are going to do a lot better than people expect."

Obama leads Clinton in delegates to the convention, but he cannot claim the nomination without the support of superdelegates, the nearly 800 elected officials, activists and party insiders who get as much say in the selection of the nominee as the delegates won by the candidates in the state primaries and caucuses this year.

Pennsylvania is the 41st state to hold a primary or caucus so far in 2008, and it has the largest single trove of delegates - 158 - among the final 10 contests of the nominating season, which ends June 3, with primaries in Montana and South Dakota. But the primary voting Tuesday, if close, is unlikely to change the delegate count much because 103 of Pennsylvania's delegates will be apportioned based on how each candidate fares in each of the state's 19 congressional districts, with the remainder distributed based on the statewide vote.

The latest financial reports from the rival Democrats raise questions about whether Clinton has the financial resources to continue her pursuit of Obama. According to the reports, Clinton started the month of April with only about $9 million in cash for the final primaries and a debt of $10.3 million. Obama, on the other hand, reported having $42 million for the final push and has, in fact, outspent Clinton in Pennsylvania by an estimated margin of 3-to-1.

Clinton campaign spokesmen sought to downplay Obama's financial advantage as the Democratic contest enters the final phase.

"The numbers are what they are," Clinton adviser Howard Wolfson said in a conference call with reporters. "The money continues to come in strongly. . . . This campaign has resources."

Clinton, however, is under pressure to end her campaign so the party can take aim at the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, who has been spared a lot of criticism as a result of the extended contest on the Democratic side.

The latest sign that the party is growing weary of the continuing fight between Obama and Clinton came on the eve of the Pennsylvania primary when the North Carolina Democratic Party announced it is canceling a proposed April 27 debate between the Democratic rivals. A statement from the North Carolina party said there is "growing concerns about what another debate would do to party unity."

Cox News reporter Ken Herman contributed to this report.