WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Barack Obama cast his Democratic presidential rival Saturday as a game-player who uses “slash and burn” tactics and will say whatever people want to hear, a sharp jab at her character in the final chapter of the pivotal Pennsylvania primary campaign.
Hillary Rodham Clinton implored voters to look beyond “whoop-de-do” speechmaking and take a hard look at who has the know-how to deal with the nation’s burdens.
“I want everyone thinking,” she declared, as if to suggest those backing Obama are not. Her implication was clear: She’s substance; he’s flash.
The New York senator spoke outside West Chester’s 175-year-old firehouse, striking a somber note about problems at home and abroad as she described the stakes for voters Tuesday. She asked them to think about the looming challenge of China, the restive Middle East, the trade imbalance and the debt burden.
In Wynnewood, several thousand people lined the tracks for the first stop on Obama’s day-long whistle- stop tour that began in Philadelphia aboard a royal blue train car.
“I may not be perfect, but I will always tell you what I think, and I will always tell you where I stand,” the Illinois senator told the crowd.
