Apr 21, 2008 12:14 am US/Eastern
Obama Addresses Crowd In Berks County
Reporting
Chris May
READING, Pa. (CBS 3) ―
A 15 month campaign comes down to the last critical 48 hours before the Pennsylvania primary where this race will either come to its end or be propelled all the way to the democratic convention.
On Sunday, Barack Obama made what he called his closing argument.
Obama rolled into Berks County Sunday drawing an enthusiastic, if less than capacity crowd, to Reading High School.
During his remarks, he took aim at both Hillary Clinton and their Republican opponent John McCain.
"There are three candidates left, two of 'em got in wrong on Iraq, one of 'em got it right. You can decide who you want answering that phone call at three in the morning," Obama said.
It was the latest in a series of stops around the state for Obama and comes just two days before voters have their say.
In an interview with CBS3, Obama shrugged off polls that show him running behind Senator Clinton in Pennsylvania.
"Our attitude is to not pay too much attention to the polls and just work hard and that's what we've been doing throughout this campaign and so far at least it seems to have worked," Obama said.
The senator also addressed several topics on Sunday including a local issue he has so far been reluctant to take on, legislation pending in Harrisburg that would ban gay marriage in the commonwealth.
"If I were in the state legislature, I would oppose it, Obama said.
Obama's silence on the proposed amendment to the state's constitution has proven worrisome to local gay rights groups who have largely thrown their support behind Hillary Clinton and just two days before the primary he made his position clear.
"I'm not in favor of gay marriage but I certainly don't want to see a court suggesting that somehow we can't pass laws that say gays and lesbians aren't being discriminated against," Obama said.
Obama also took on the second amendment saying while he generally supports the right to bear arms it should be balanced with laws that protect the public.
"There are a lot of lawful gun owners who are using firearms responsibly; those rights need to be respected. That is not, I think, at odds with the idea that we are going to crack down on guns getting in the hands of gangs," Obama said.
With these issues persist, for now, the focus for the Obama camp is Pennsylvania's upcoming primary on Tuesday.
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