Poll sees Clinton leading in Pennsylvania

WASHINGTON, April 12 (UPI) -- A poll taken before Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was hammered for calling small-town voters "bitter" portends a close election in Pennsylvania.

The poll by Newsmax/Zogby indicates Obama and rival Hillary Clinton are neck-and-neck in the Keystone State, which holds its primary April 22, the USA Today On Politics blog reported Saturday.

The Newsmax/Zogby survey indicates Clinton leads Obama 47 percent to 43 percent. Since the New York senator's lead is within the poll's 3.2 percent margin of error, she and the Illinois senator are in a statistical dead heat.

The poll of 1,002 likely Democratic voters was conducted April 9-10.

On Friday, an audio clip emerged of Obama saying last week that many small-town voters are "bitter" about their economic situation.

The Illinois senator said they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy" out of political frustration.

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustration," Obama said.