Obama: Clinton Offers “Slash And Burn” Politics

From CBS News’ Maria Gavrilovic:


PAOLI, PA. – On the last weekend before the much anticipated Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama is making an intense effort to draw sharp contrasts between him and Hillary Clinton. Taking a page out of presidential campaigns from years past, Obama embarked on a whistle stop tour today, campaigning by train across the southeastern part of the state.

“You’ve been watching this campaign for a couple weeks, at least here in Pennsylvania, and let’s face it, it’s not pretty,” Obama said. “But the issue is not whether people are saying nasty things, the problem is that it’s a distraction from solving the problems that have to be solved.”

Clinton is trying to divide Pennsylvania voters, according to Obama. “This is a choice in this primary, do you want the same slash and burn politics or do you believe it is possible for us to bring people together?”

At an earlier stop in Wynnewood, Obama accused Clinton of “throwing everything at me and seeing if something sticks,” which he referred to as a Republican tactic. “I’m not in this race to fit into Washington; I am in this race to change Washington,” Obama said. “I want to get the Republicans to start sitting down with Democrats and independents to actually solve problems for the American people.”

The “On Track for Change” train tour began in the Philadelphia suburbs and in ends in the state capital of Harrisburg. With five stops in one day, the Pennsylvania campaign blitz looks more like the frenetic campaign pace the candidates kept in Iowa.