Barack Obama’s campaign moved to negate the impact of Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary as opponent Hillary Clinton questioned why her rival seems unable to “close the deal” given the millions of dollars he’s spent in the state.

Both candidates have campaigned hard in the six-week run-up to the Keystone State primary, lately going after each other in ads and on the stump with an aggression that hasn’t been seen since January.

Polls show Clinton poised for a likely victory, one the Obama campaign seemed ready to write it off as two more states prepare for May 6 contests.

“Tonight’s outcome is unlikely to change the dynamic of this lengthy primary,” the Obama camp said in a memo Tuesday. “Fully three quarters of the remaining delegates will be selected in states other than Pennsylvania … We expect that by tomorrow morning, the overall structure of the race will remain unchanged-except for the fact that there will be 158 delegates off the table.”

Indiana and North Carolina hold the next nominating votes, and offer 72 and 115 pledged delegates, respectively. While Clinton holds a rally in Philadelphia Tuesday night, Obama plans to hold his in Evansville, Ind. Moving on to another state was a tactic used by Clinton when she faltered on the trail.

“It’s an uphill battle,” Obama said of his effort in Pennsylvania, campaigning at a Pittsburgh diner. He said polls before the voting showed a tighter race than a few weeks ago but “we still, I think, have to consider ourselves the underdog.”

Obama said Monday he is “not predicting a win” in Pennsylvania, and his memo Tuesday said “by rights (Clinton) should win big,” adding that Obama has nevertheless run his campaign in earnest.

“The Clinton campaign needs a blowout victory in Pennsylvania to get any closer to winning,” the campaign said in an effort to raise the expectations game.

Privately, the Clinton campaign is shooting for the big win. But Clinton said Tuesday that a win by any margin would be impressive.

“A win is a win, especially under the circumstances where my opponent has outspent me probably three-to-one, maybe four-to-one,” she said in Conshohocken, Pa.

She later added, “I think maybe the question ought to be, ‘Why can’t he close the deal with his extraordinary financial advantage?’ Why can’t he win … this one if that’s the way it turns out?”

A Clinton campaign memo also questioned why Obama was downplaying his own expectations: “Sen. Obama’s supporters — and many pundits — have argued that the delegate ‘math’ makes him the prohibitive frontrunner … So if he’s already the frontrunner, if he’s had six weeks of unlimited resources to get his message out, shouldn’t he be the one expected to win tonight? If not, why not? “

Flush with cash, Obama reported spending $11.2 million on television in the state, compared with $4.8 million for Clinton. Clinton’s once double-digit lead in Pennsylvania polls narrowed to single digits in recent weeks as both candidates put more time and resources into the state.

Democratic analysts have said Clinton needs to win by at least 10 points on Tuesday to prove she deserves to remain in the race, but by much larger margins to regain frontrunner status.

It is possible for Clinton to win the popular vote, but still come away with fewer delegates, since two-thirds of the state’s pledged delegates are awarded proportionally based on the results in each of the 19 congressional districts. The rest are awarded proportionally based on the results statewide.

If Obama pulls huge numbers in Philadelphia’s District 2 and other districts that offer a high payoff of delegates, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Director Abe Amoros said it’s “possible, highly improbably” that the Illinois senator could counter a Clinton popular vote victory with a delegate victory.

Clinton has faced calls to leave the race; not only does she trail Obama in total delegates so far, but also in the number of states won and popular vote to-date of the states that have held nomination contests.

She’s relying heavily on winning over uncommitted superdelegates to make up the gap.

“She’s really engaged in a public relations contest right now for superdelegates,” said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. “She’s not going to win the pledged delegate count by June … what she has to win is the PR war.”

Clinton is making the argument to superdelegates that she is more electable in a general election, and repeated Tuesday that “the road to the White House leads right through Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania Avenue.” She referred to the big states she’s won as must-win states for Democrats in November.

“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that we have a Democrat sworn in on January 20, 2009. I obviously hope to be that Democrat,” Clinton said earlier Tuesday at a polling station, adding “I happen to think I’m the stronger candidate against Senator McCain.”

As of Tuesday morning, Obama claimed 1,648.5 delegates to Clinton’s 1,509.5. They’re aiming to reach 2,025 delegates to clinch the nomination.

Bracing for Record Turnout

Meanwhile, record turnout was the expectation in Pennsylvania, similar to other states that have seen voters flood the polls.

Statewide turnout would set a modern record for Democratic presidential primaries if more than 2.3 million of the 4.2 million registered party members show up at the polls.

The current record — just under 55 percent — was set in 1980, when Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy narrowly defeated then-President Carter in Pennsylvania.

Sarah Triplett arrived early to vote Tuesday at her suburban Philadelphia polling place and soon had plenty of company.

“I had to be here to vote, and I pray that (Sen. Barack) Obama does make a big change in a very positive way,” said Triplett, a “65-plus” woman from Levittown who works with the disabled.

In Allentown, where a line snaked out the door at First Presbyterian Church, 68-year-old Ellen Woolley went for Clinton. Obama, she said, is a “marvelous speaker but I really don’t hear a lot of substance.”

By plane, train, bus and car, the two candidates and their surrogates have been relentless in courting Pennsylvania voters. They spent millions of dollars on TV advertising and squared off in Philadelphia for the 21st debate of their campaign. Tarron Turlington, 28, a technology worker from Philadelphia, said early Tuesday that he had soaked it all in — and cast his vote for Obama.

“Their policies are both in line with each other,” Turlington said. “But he’s more sincere, he’s more genuine and overall the better candidate.”

Democratic enrollment began to soar earlier this year when it became apparent that neither candidate would clinch the nomination before Pennsylvania’s primary, making it a factor in a presidential nomination for the first time in more than three decades. Voters must be registered Democrats to vote in the Clinton-Obama race. The Republican primary is also being held Tuesday, but Sen. John McCain of Arizona is already the presumptive nominee.

The number of Democrats had increased by nearly 317,000 as of March 24, the deadline for switching or joining parties, over last Fall.

The candidates take credit for much of the enthusiasm, however, conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh is claiming the increase in Democratic voter rolls, is part of his “Operation Chaos,” in which he wants Republicans to register for Democratic contests to keep the candidates pointed at each other rather than at McCain.

Election workers in the University City section of West Philadelphia — whose voters include University of Pennsylvania employees, Drexel University students and residents of the lower-income Powelton Village neighborhood — reported strong registration in the typically transient district.

“I have never seen a polling book this thick,” poll worker Sheryl Simons said. “The debates and the candidates coming to campus has really heightened interest.”

The Democratic presidential race is not the only one being decided Tuesday — there are nomination contests for state treasurer, Congress and the state Legislature — but the White House contest is unquestionably the biggest draw for voters.

On Monday, as the six-week campaign approached its climax, the candidates continued their Pennsylvania barnstorming while campaign volunteers manned phone banks, knocked on voters’ doors and waved signs along busy streets in communities across the state.

Obama’s get-out-the-vote plans included dispatching “town criers” in Obama T-shirts to make announcements in the streets and on public buses, and sending out roving “sound trucks” blaring messages over public-address systems.

“There’s still people out there making up their minds,” said Sean Smith, a campaign spokesman for Obama.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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