Kate Sheppard reports from the trail:
The question for months has been whether Barack Obama can appeal to the working-class, white demographic that has been Hillary Clinton's stronghold. It propelled her to victory in Ohio, and has appeared to remain solidly behind her throughout the primary. But with nearly three weeks still to go before Pennsylvanians head to the polls, Obama is taking his campaign directly to these voters -- and fine-tuning his populism in the process. It's a good exercise for a candidate who will need the support of blue-collar, swing voters in the general election.
"Although Wall Street just got the news over the last few months, Main Street has been struggling for a lot longer. Everywhere I go people are working harder and harder just to make ends meet," he told the Wilkes-Barre crowd. A former coal mining town of 43,000 tucked in the northeast corner of the state, Wilkes-Barre has lost most of its industrial base in the past several decades. Clinton's father grew up in the area, and it's viewed as solid Clinton country.
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--The Editors
