Obama says he will fine-tune his campaign

By Jeff Mason

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama said on Friday he would fine-tune his U.S. presidential campaign and remind voters of his humble roots after a defeat in Pennsylvania fueled in part by his failure to win over working-class voters.

Obama leads the Democratic race but is in a grueling battle with Hillary Clinton for the right to face Republican John McCain in November's presidential election. Nine of the state-by-state nominating contests remain before voting ends on June 3.

Obama, an Illinois senator, said he would make adjustments after losing Pennsylvania's primary election to Clinton on Tuesday. That followed another big-state loss to Clinton, a New York senator, in Ohio in March.

"There's no doubt that a campaign has to continually fine-tune itself," Obama told reporters in Indiana, one of two crucial battlegrounds in the next round of contests on May 6.

"You know this has been a long campaign. What worked well three months ago, if you're doing the exact same thing now, it may not work as well," said Obama, who racked up a string of wins in February before stumbling in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

SPECIAL INTERESTS

Standing at a gas station, Obama said his rivals were part of a Washington political establishment that had failed to rein in oil companies and other powerful special interests.

"The candidates with the Washington experience -- my opponents -- are good people. They mean well but they've been in Washington an awful long time and, even with all that experience they talk about, nothing has happened," Obama said.

He said he was the only candidate who had tried to battle special interests and refused to take donations from lobbyists.

Clinton questioned Obama's commitment to fighting special interests during a stop in Bloomington, Indiana, noting he voted for an energy bill backed by Vice President Dick Cheney, a Republican.

"Actions speak louder than words. When it came time to stand up against the oil companies, to stand against Dick Cheney's energy bill, my opponent voted for it and I voted against it, Clinton said. "That bill had billions of dollars of giveaways to the oil companies."

Clinton, a former first lady seeking to be the first female U.S. president, and Obama have vied to portray themselves as the best stewards of a struggling economy in states hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs and the housing crisis.

But Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, has struggled to connect with white working-class voters in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. He was beaten badly by Clinton in Pennsylvania among low-income whites who do not have a college degree.

OUT OF TOUCH?

The results followed Obama's comments about "bitter" small-town residents and subsequent charges by Clinton and McCain that he was an out-of-touch elitist.