Obama says winning Pennsylvania is key to reaching White House

Washington, Sep 6 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has said that he will win the White House race if he wins Pennsylvania. He was speaking to workers after touring Voit Siemens Hydro Power Generation plant.

"If you vote for me, I think we will win Pennsylvania. If we win Pennsylvania, we'll win the election," Obama said.

The Illinois Senator is targeting rural voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania with a populist message, offering relief from pocketbook worries while accusing Republican presidential nominee John McCain of complacency about the country's hard times.

The strategy is key to winning Pennsylvania and its prize of 21 electoral votes, the Washington Post reported.

The state has not voted a Republican in a presidential election since backing George H.W. Bush over Michael Dukakis in 1988. But Democrat John Kerry carried it by a thin 2.5 percent margin in 2004, and McCain is campaigning aggressively in the Keystone State.

With seven visits to Pennsylvania so far during the campaign, McCain signaled he is determined to put the state in play this year.

Obama struggled to attract the critical working-class vote in the state primary, as his campaign was hobbled by reports that at a private fundraising event in San Francisco he complained the state's small-town voters were not supporting him because they are bitter and cling to guns and religion.

He lost the primary by a nine-point margin to rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, though fared better than the more than 10-point deficit predicted by some opinion polls.

ANI