PITTSBURGH – Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden Friday took the momentum from their party's convention – and a sizable poll bounce – and plunged deep into the heart of this economically depressed region, where they need their energy and economic messages to click.
A national Gallup poll conducted Tuesday through Thursday gave Obama a 49 percent to 41 percent lead over McCain. They had been tied last week.
The Democratic team's trip to western Pennsylvania included visits to an ice cream store in Aliquippa and a rally in downtown Beaver.
"I want people here to know that I'm going to be fighting as hard as I can for them and Joe Biden is going to be fighting as hard as he can for them to create new jobs in high-growth industries like clean energy," Obama told a local TV reporter in Aliquippa.
These were the first stops on a Labor Day weekend tour of swing states, and Biden – a Scranton native with a working-class background – is hoping to help Obama rally reluctant supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who won the Democratic primary here.
Obama's first stop Friday, in Monaca, was at Pennsylvania Biodiesel Inc., a startup company that will provide alternative fuel to trucking companies. The visit was designed to spotlight his energy program, which would invest $150 billion over the next 10 years in what Obama calls "affordable, renewable sources of energy," as well as his economic plan.
Chuck Gorman, a retired construction worker from North Hills, Pa., said he thought Obama's speech was "too long" and that he is grudgingly supporting Obama despite his concerns about Obama's lack of experience because "I have no choice." However, Gorman added, "You can't get much better than Joe Biden; he's a good man."
Call David Lightman, McClatchy Washington Bureau, (202) 383-6101.
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