US:BARACK OBAMA and Hillary Clinton met in Philadelphia last night for their first debate in six weeks as new polls suggest that Mr Obama's controversial remarks about small-town Americans have yet to alienate many voters.
A Philadelphia Daily Newspoll showed Mrs Clinton leading Mr Obama by 46 per cent to 40 per cent in Pennsylvania, which votes next Tuesday.
Mrs Clinton's favourable ratings among registered voters have declined to 58 per cent from 65 per cent in March, while Mr Obama's favourable rating has risen from 47 per cent to 53 per cent.
A Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll of likely Democratic voters gives Mrs Clinton a 46 per cent to 41 per cent edge in Pennsylvania but puts Mr Obama ahead in Indiana and North Carolina, the next states to vote on May 6th.
According to a Washington Post/ABC Newspoll, two out of three Democrats now see Mr Obama as better able to win in November, a dramatic change from February, when Mrs Clinton was five points ahead on this measure.
Among all Americans, 58 per cent now say Mrs Clinton is not honest and not trustworthy, 16 points higher than two years ago, before the presidential campaign began.
Most of the polls were conducted last weekend, after news of Mr Obama's controversial remarks about small-town Americans broke but before the media amplified them and Mrs Clinton accused him of sounding condescending and out of touch.
Mr Obama had told a fundraising event in San Francisco that many people in small towns were bitter about economic adversity and clung to religion, guns and anti-immigrant feeling out of frustration.
Mr Obama yesterday told 75 leaders of Philadelphia's Jewish community that, although he was willing to meet Iran's leaders, he rejected the idea of former US president Jimmy Carter meeting Hamas. "Hamas is not a state, Hamas is a terrorist organisation . . . so I think there is a very clear distinction," he said.
Meanwhile, rock star Bruce Springsteen yesterday became the latest public figure to endorse Mr Obama for president, saying he stood "head and shoulders above the rest".
In a message posted on his website, Springsteen said the Illinois senator had "the depth, the reflectiveness and the resilience" to be the next US president.
