35,000 show up for Obama rally in Philly

By Larry Eichel
Philadelphia Inquirer Senior Writer

Sen. Barack Obama launched his closing Pennsylvania blitz yesterday by traveling from one corner of the state to the other, starting in Erie and closing with a massive outdoor rally on the streets of Philadelphia.

On a warm and clear spring evening, in front of a crowd estimated at 35,000, the Democratic presidential candidate told supporters that they have the opportunity to send a powerful message to the rest of the country in the primary on Tuesday.

"In four days, you get the chance to help bring about the change that we need right now," Obama said. "Here in the city and the state that gave birth to our democracy, we can declare our independence from the politics that's shut us out, let us down, and told us to settle."

And he blasted Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his rival for the party's nomination, even as he called her "a tenacious opponent and a committed public servant." She is the front-runner in Pennsylvania, as Obama acknowledged last night, even though he leads her nationally.

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