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All of a sudden, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a battleground primary state. It wasn't expected, because of the way in which the "Super Tuesday" primaries were frontloaded on the political calendar, but that's the way it played out.
Pres. Clinton's visit to Philadelphia is the most visible sign yet that both candidates want -- and need -- the state's 103 delegates to be chosen on April 22nd.
At Democratic City Committee headquarters on Walnut Street in center city, party leader Bob Brady -- a US congressman representing Philadelphia -- will be meeting with all 69 city ward leaders to endorse statewide candidates such as treasurer, auditor general, and attorney general.
Sources say that Brady cordially invited both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to the meeting. Mr. Clinton accepted, and although Barack Obama had a previous engagement elsewhere, an Obama representative will be there.
Meantime, a campaign headquarters for Hillary Clinton was being set up along Delaware Avenue, and the American Federation of Teachers has a phone bank up and running at 18th and Chestnut Streets. One insider says they made 7,000 calls in two days.
KYW's Mike DeNardo reports that even though the Pennsylvania primary is a month and a half away, Barack Obama's Philadelphia campaign office is already in high gear.
The Obama office (right), at 15th and Sansom Streets, opened last weekend, and there's been a steady stream of volunteers offering to register voters, raise money, and help any way they can.
Obama's Pennsylvania campaign spokesman Sean Smith says the candidate himself will be spending plety of time in Philadelphia:
"I expect him to be here soon and often. There is an important contest in Wyoming on Saturday and one in Mississippi on Tuesday. Those are very important states for our campaign. And then we will fully turn our attention to Pennsylvania."
An army of 100 paid staffers is expected to arrive from other states this weekend.
Smith says one major job is registering as many Democrats as possible before Pennsylvania's March 24th voter registration deadline.
