Obama, vowing tax shift, chills in Chester

Christopher Jackson was soaking wet, standing in a mushy field yesterday morning outside Widener University with no protection from the bitter, wind-driven rain that was pelting him in the face.

He didn't care. Neither did the 9,000 others who trudged onto Memorial Field to hear U.S. Sen. Barack Obama deliver a populist "closing argument" a week before Election Day.

"This is history in the making," said Jackson, 25, who traveled from Hightstown, N.J., to Chester for the rally.

"They tell you your whole life that you can be whatever you want to be, but up until now we've never had a president that wasn't a wealthy white man," said Jackson, an aspiring lawyer who, like Obama, is biracial.

Jackson said his generation connects with the Democratic senator more than other politicians because he "makes us feel like we have a say and have some control over our future and our kids' futures."

Yesterday's audience, though smaller than anticipated due to the wretched weather, was certainly connecting with Obama, who took the podium in jeans and a raincoat. No umbrella.

"I saw [Gov.] Ed Rendell backstage and his teeth were chattering," Obama told the crowd, which was fired up despite a windchill in the 30s. State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland said the rain was "nothing but liquid sunshine" - but the reporters trying to sneak into the traveling press tent would have disagreed.

"A couple of you have these signs saying 'stop global warming,' " the senator said. "This is probably not the weather to hold up those signs. I mean, I'm not into global warming either, but it's a little chilly today."

While the stormy weather forced Republican Sen. John McCain to cancel an outdoor rally in Quakertown, Obama tried to seal the deal in Delaware County, where voters tend to support Republicans in local elections but have chosen Democrats in the last four presidential elections.

Obama pledged, if elected, to "roll back the Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans" and provide a "middle-class tax cut for 95 percent of workers and their families." He said he would grow the economy "not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

"If you make less than a quarter million dollars a year - and that includes, by the way, 98 percent of small businesses and 99.9 percent of plumbers - you will not see your taxes increase one single dime," Obama said, referring to the now-famous "Joe the Plumber" who challenged Obama on his tax plan this month and who the McCain campaign has featured in TV ads.

While warming up the crowd, Rendell showed off a "Plouffe" Phillies jersey for Obama to take back to his campaign manager David Plouffe - "Strange name, but a very effective guy," the guv said - who is a Wilmington native and huge Phils fan.

Local Republicans were furious that Chester Upland School District canceled classes for the day.

Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton, former chief academic officer for Philadelphia public schools, said the decision to shut down the district was made "to assure the safety and security of all students," but he also encouraged parents and students to attend the rally.

Springfield GOP leader Michael Puppio, onetime attack dog for deposed U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, said closing schools for a "Marxist candidate" is "a disgraceful misuse of taxpayer dollars."

Pennsylvania is a battleground state where Obama has a 13-point lead among likely voters, according to a Franklin & Marshall/Daily News poll released today. But McCain said in Hershey yesterday that he will "fool the pundits because we're going to win the state of Pennsylvania."

Appearing with running mate Sarah Palin, McCain said that Obama wants to redistribute the nation's wealth.

"Sen. Obama is running to be redistributor in chief, I'm running to be commander in chief," he said. "Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful, I'm running to make everyone successful." *

The Associated Press contributed to this report.