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Obama emphasizes change at Independence Mall rally

WITH JUST days to go before the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Barack Obama last night appeared before thousands of roaring supporters in Independence Mall, and pledged to "declare independence" from Washington politics.

WITH JUST days to go before the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Barack Obama last night appeared before thousands of roaring supporters in Independence Mall, and pledged to "declare independence" from Washington politics.

"In four days, you get the chance to help bring about the change that we need right now, Philadelphia," Obama said. "Here in the city and the state that gave birth to our democracy, we can declare our independence from the politics that has shut us out, let us down, and told us to settle."

In his first public Philadelphia appearance, Obama stood on stage before the Independence Visitor Center, addressing a rapturous crowd of roughly 35,000 that stretched all the way to Independence Hall. His warm up acts included will.i.am, lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas.

Obama's brief speech focused on the key message of his presidential campaign: bringing change to Washington. He recalled the founding fathers' challenging British rule and said that it was time again for revolutionary leadership in America, promising to create new jobs and provide health care for all Americans.

Obama also said that his Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, would not serve as a change-agent.

"She's taken a different position at different times on issues as fundamental as trade and even war to suit the politics of the moment," he said. "And in the last few months, she's launched what her campaign calls a 'kitchen sink' strategy of negative attacks, which she defends by telling us that this is what the Republicans would do. She says that's how the game is played.

"I'm not running to fit in Washington. I'm running to change Washington."

During the six-week primary battle, Obama has shrunk Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania. In the latest Daily News/Franklin and Marshall poll, Clinton held a six-point lead over Obama, down from 12 points in February.

Both candidates will criss-cross the state in the coming days to get out the vote on Tuesday. Obama concluded in Philadelphia yesterday, after stops in Erie and Williamsport. Today he'll continue his final push in Pennsylvania with a whistle-stop train ride from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, featuring stops in Wynnewood and Lancaster.

Looking ahead to the general election, Obama also criticized presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.

"John McCain believes that George Bush's economic policies have led to 'great progress' over the last seven years," Obama said. "That's what he said. And so he's promising four more years of tax cuts for CEOs and corporations, for the wealthiest few who didn't need them and weren't asking for those tax cuts."

He added, "Well, I don't think that the 8,300 Pennsylvanians who have lost their jobs or the 232,000 Americans who've lost theirs this year are seeing the great progress that John McCain sees."

Also yesterday, Clinton and Obama bickered about the ABC debate Wednesday at the National Constitution Center. During the debate Obama spent more time on the defensive, answering questions about his former pastor, about his comments about small- town Americans being "bitter" and about why he doesn't wear a flag pin.

Later in the day, in Williamsport, Pa., Obama insisted he wasn't complaining:

"I don't believe we can bring about change if we don't declare our independence from the politics that exploits our differences and inflames the divisions in our country, the politics that feeds on fake controversy, and distractions, where you keep track of how many points you score on your opponent instead of how many problems you solve for the American people." *