Presidential hopeful Barack Obama believes that Hillary Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania is actually much larger than the polls will have you believe, the Illinois senator said in an interview Saturday with the Courier Times.
Obama also said that his fierce contest with Clinton for the nomination will not cause any long-term damage within the Democratic party, that Clinton should not be forced out of the race even if she loses Pennsylvania's primary and that voters are not as concerned about racial issues as the media might have you believe.
This week, several polls were released showing that Obama had closed a once-formidable lead by Clinton in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary. The polls had Clinton up by an average of nearly 7 percentage points and one even had Obama leading by 2 points, but Obama said he had no faith in those numbers.
“I don't believe in polls when I'm up and I don't believe in polls when I'm down,” Obama said in a phone interview shortly after a campaign stop in Montana. “I still think we're losing by 20. I'm joking a little.”
Obama, who sees himself as an underdog in the Pennsylvania primary, said Clinton should stay in the race even if he won that contest as long as she has support.
“I think that Sen. Clinton should be able to continue for as long as she wants to,” he said.
Obama added that the tight contests in states such as Pennsylvania, where voters have not had a say in the presidential nomination process in a generation, were, ultimately, beneficial to the party.
“It means that we're getting our voters engaged and interested,” he said.
He said he saw no lasting rift in the party caused by his battle with Clinton and said all Democrats would come together once the nomination was settled, which might not occur until the Democratic National Convention in August.
“I think that we will unify fairly quickly once the convention begins,” he said. “Whatever differences that Sen. Clinton and I have pale in comparison with the differences that we have with John McCain.”
Obama, who delivered a major speech on American race relations last month in Philadelphia, said that the race issue may be overly hyped by the media.
“I don't think it has been a big issue throughout this campaign,” said Obama, who pointed out that he has won in predominately white states like Idaho, North Dakota and Wisconsin. “I think that race was bound to have some relevance given that I'm the first African-American candidate to have come this far, but I have to say that the vast majority of Americans are much less concerned about race and gender than they are about [other issues].”
Those issues include rising gas prices, insufficient health care, job security and the war in Iraq, Obama said.
He said that the media has tried to make race a predominant issue in the campaign, trying to figure out who black voters or white voters might favor in this campaign.
“The press is absolutely trying to push and peddle this agenda,” he said.
Obama declined to comment extensively on recently released tax returns that show that Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, earned more than $109 million over the past eight years.
“There's no doubt that most of the candidates for president are better off than average Americans,” he said.
Still, Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, might better understand the financial struggles facing average Americans.
“We do have a pretty good feel for the day-to-day struggles that people go through,” he said.
Obama also declined to comment on whether Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy's, D-8, support for his campaign might lead to a spot for Murphy in the Obama administration if he is eventually elected president.
“Patrick Murphy is an extraordinary talent and he will always have a spot in my heart,” he said.
He said he was “looking forward” to working with Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, on veterans' issues and war policy if he is elected.
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