Today on the Presidential Campaign Trail

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IN THE HEADLINES

Democratic Primary Contest Swells Party's Ranks in Pennsylvania ... Clinton schedules offer roadmap through high and lows as first lady ... McCain backs Israeli reprisals in Gaza, saying government must defend its people

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Democratic Registration Brisk in PA

WAYNE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvanians are rushing in record numbers to sign up as Democrats so they can vote in the April 22 presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Many are lured by the historic drama of two U.S. senators vying to be the first black or female president. But the two campaigns also are busily recruiting independents, disgruntled Republicans and those who weren't previously registered at all.

Obama's effort has generated the most fanfare as his campaign has laid down a steady drumbeat of radio ads and e-mails leading up to the deadline for switching or joining parties.

"For real change, register as a Democrat by Monday, March 24," advise Obama ads airing throughout the state.

Only registered Democrats can vote for their party's candidates in the state's April 22 primary, and Obama is hoping the recruits will help him overcome Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's solid lead — 12 points in one poll taken last weekend. At stake are 158 delegates to this summer's Democratic national convention — the biggest bloc of delegates still to be awarded. Only registered Republicans can vote in the GOP primary.

Since last fall's election, statewide Democratic enrollment has swelled by more than 111,000 — an increase of about 3 percent in less than six months that state elections Commissioner Harry VanSickle said is apparently unprecedented. With days to go, Democratic registration is barely 5,000 votes shy of a record 4 million.

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Analysis: Papers show highs and lows

NEW YORK (AP) — Newly released schedules from Hillary Rodham Clinton's eight years in the White House portray an activist first lady who weighed in on policy, traveled the globe and won a race for the U.S. Senate.

But they also serve as an unsettling reminder of her husband's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and the subsequent impeachment proceedings, just as the Democratic presidential candidate appears to be strengthening her position against rival Barack Obama.

The sexual escapades of elected officials have dominated the nation's conversation in recent days.

Eliot Spitzer stepped down as governor of New York after getting caught up in a prostitution scandal and his successor, David Paterson, was forced to come clean about his repeated marital infidelities.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been pressured to step down while authorities look into claims that he and a former aide lied under oath during a whistle-blowers' trial last summer when they denied having an affair in 2002 and 2003.

And former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, who resigned in 2004 after disclosing that he was gay and had had a homosexual affair, said this week that he, his wife and a male aide had engaged in sexual threesomes — contradicting his estranged wife's angry denials.

So the flashback of Bill Clinton's affair with Lewinsky hardly seemed shocking.

Yet for Hillary Clinton, it is personal, painful and something she has tried to relegate to the past in her groundbreaking bid for the presidency.

Throughout her campaign, the New York senator has trumpeted the experience she gained as first lady and the relative peace and prosperity of her husband's White House years as reasons for voters to favor a third Clinton term. The darker side of Bill Clinton's legacy — his trysts in the Oval Office with a woman half his age — is the elephant in the room, never acknowledged but always there.

But Hillary Clinton cannot escape her past. Nor, for that matter, can Obama, who this week struggled to explain his close 20-year relationship with a now-retired pastor who has espoused incendiary anti-American views.

Reminders of the Lewinsky saga haven't necessarily hurt Clinton as she has continued in public life.

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McCain backs Israeli reprisals in Gaza

SDEROT, Israel (AP) — Touring a war-battered town, Sen. John McCain said Wednesday he understands Israel's tough response to Palestinian rocket fire, adding that there is no point in negotiating with the Gaza Strip's Islamic Hamas regime.

The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting also praised the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, saying he is committed to reaching a peace deal with Israel — though McCain is not meeting Palestinians this time.

McCain's visit to Israel is part of a weeklong trip through the Middle East and Europe. After a day of meetings with Israeli leaders, he visited Sderot, the southern Israeli border town that has been the target of thousands of crude Palestinian rockets in recent years.

While billed as routine congressional business, the visit appeared to be aimed at burnishing McCain's leadership credentials and courting Jewish voters for the November election. Jews make up large voting blocs in key swing states, including Florida and Michigan, and could help influence the outcome of the election.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigns in Indiana. Barack Obama stops in West Virginia.

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THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain is overseas on a congressional trip.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"No nation in the world can be attacked incessantly and have its population killed and intimidated without responding. That's one of the first obligations of government, to provide security for its citizens." — John McCain in Israel defending Israel's right to retaliate for Palestinian attacks.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Number of Democratic primaries in 1912: 12

Number of Republican primaries in 1912: 13

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Compiled by Ann Sanner and Jerry Estill.

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