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Pennsylvania: The Obama Referendum

Posted Apr 22, 08 5:41 AM CDT in Politics 

(Newser) – As Pennsylvanians go to the polls on what could be the decisive day of the Democratic primary, one columnist sees today's vote not as a race between two candidates, but a referendum on one. Barack Obama has appeared as both populist and elitist, crusader and policy wonk, black and post-racial. Which Obama voters choose to see today will define his fate, writes EJ Dionne in the Washington Post.

For Dionne, how voters perceive Obama—as agent of change or dull law professor, as cool JFK or disconnected Adlai—is the central question in today's vote and the harbinger of whether Obama will end up in the White House. More than a race between him and Hillary Clinton, today's poll is about one complex, multifaceted man, and which facets voters choose to see.

Source Washington Post

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Barack Obama addresses the crowd at a campaign stop in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 21, 2008.   (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Barack and Michelle Obama applaud at a rally at University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 21, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Dusten Washington Jr., 3, covers his face with a fan-made with a photo of Barack Obama at a town hall-style meeting in McKeesport, Pa., Monday, April 21, 2008.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Barack Obama talks with working families at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, Pa., Monday, April 21, 2008.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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