Obama says Hillary is not ‘Rocky’

By ALAIN JEAN-ROBERT

Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), April 3: Democratic White House contender Barack Obama on Wednesday mocked his rival Hillary Clinton’s claim to be a "Rocky" fighter for the working classes, as polls suggested he is punching into her lead in gritty Pennsylvania.

"We all love Rocky, and last time I checked I was the underdog in this state," Mr Obama told trade unionists here after Ms Clinton, addressing the same audience on Tuesday, likened herself to Sylvester Stallone’s indomitable boxer.

But in a speech to the state convention of the American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organisations (AFL-CIO), the Illinois senator noted that Rocky Balboa was fiction.

"And so is the idea that someone can fight for working people and at the same time, embrace the broken system in Washington," Mr Obama said to approving guffaws, portraying Ms Clinton as the consummate political insider.

Mr Obama, who enjoys a small but solid lead over Ms Clinton in the race to the Democratic nomination, wrapped up the final leg of a six-day bus tour around Pennsylvania ahead of the rust-belt state’s White House primary on April 22.

The African-American senator’s attempts to come across as a regular guy, down to a display of bowling ineptitude over the weekend, appear to have helped him drag Ms Clinton’s Pennsylvania lead down to single digits.

A Quinnipiac University poll gave Ms Clinton an edge of 50 to 41 per cent over Mr Obama in Pennsylvania, down from a 12-point lead in mid-March. Another poll by Rasmussen had Ms Clinton besting Mr Obama by just five points in the state, 47 per cent to 42, half her lead a week ago. (AFP)