The democratic campaign would finish in June and thus far the final choice between Obama and Hillary has remained a puzzle. So, both are wooing the electoral collage to make the choice. Fortunes have been fluctuating between them in the primaries so far. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama, having pretensions of well-wishers of the down-trodden, have assailed potential White House opponent John McCain on the economy on April 01, accusing the Republican of favoring the wealthy and turning his back on struggling workers and middle-class families.

Clinton and Obama were in Pennsylvania on 01 April ahead of the next contest when 158 pledged delegates will be at stake. Some Democrats are concerned the prolonged campaign will hurt the eventual winner in the match-up with McCain. But Clinton, who trails Obama in pledged delegates won in state-by-state contests, has rejected calls to step aside.

The Democratic presidential contenders, campaigning in Pennsylvania ahead of their April 22 showdown, took a break from attacking each other to portray the Arizona senator McCain as uncertain and untested on economic issues. In separate appearances but similar language, Obama and Hillary said McCain would take his economic cues from President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. "John McCain admits he doesn't understand the economy -- and unfortunately he's proving it in this campaign," Clinton told the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO union group. "After seven disastrous years of George Bush and Dick Cheney, the stakes in this election couldn't be higher and the need to change course couldn't be more urgent. But John McCain is only offering more of the same," the New York senator Hillary said. However, she has not condemned in clear term the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq to which she makes references.

Obama played down worries the long campaign would hurt the eventual Democratic nominee. "I think this contest has been good for the Democratic Party. We've brought in all kinds of new people into the process. And I think that bodes well for November," he said on NBC's "Today" show.

There have been strong feelings among Americans about US over-spending on terror wars, harming the genuine interests of its own citizens. The latest move by the Bush administration to seriously consider withdrawal form Iraq is seen from this perspective. All these candidates, across the political divide, have talked about worsening economic situation in the country, but none is bold enough to reveal the base cause of all this. Obama, an Illinois senator, said all McCain offers "is four more years of the same George W. Bush policies that have gotten us into this pickle." He noted McCain's support for extending Bush's tax cuts, which Obama said would help the wealthy, and his support for trade agreements that Obama said do not protect U.S. workers. "His response to the housing crisis amounts to little more than standing on the sidelines and watching millions of Americans lose their homes," Obama said. But no one in the USA or else where doubts if McCain would not continue with polices of George Bush.

It looks Hillary has outsmarted Obama in highlighting goals of future economy. Taking forward her campaign against outsourcing, Democratic Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton has unveiled a policy initiative which seeks to incentivize "insourcing" of jobs within US, while cutting tax benefits to companies shipping employment abroad.

Dr Abdul Ruff Colachal