In R.I., Obama Makes Inroads

Down the block from the Obama office, Robert Kelley, 28, was handing out Clinton literature to passersby and feeling confident as he channeled his candidate's message. "Enough with the speeches -- this is not Disney World," he said. With Hillary Clinton's visit this past Sunday, and Bill Clinton in the state four days later, Kelley said, "I hope people in Rhode Island see who got here first."

Obama supporters are hoping for a high turnout among Rhode Island's college students. Providence is home to five colleges and universities and about 40,000 students, many of whom are registered to vote in the state. The candidate's brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is the Brown basketball coach. Younger voters in past contests have overwhelmingly favored Obama.

"I fall right into the Obama demographic," said Clara Schumacher, 23, an artist stopping to take a photograph of her friend next to the "Hope" sign outside Obama's headquarters. "My whole political memory has been a Bush or Clinton in office."

"I think Hillary would be a fine president, but I don't think she is the right first female president," Schumacher said. "I think the first female president should be a fresh face." She added: "I'm excited that Rhode Island's primary is going to mean something."

Her friend Natasha Brooks-Sperduti, 28, agreed. She called Obama "a refreshing face" and said, "Within this downtown radius, all the people I know are very excited about Obama."

The Clinton campaign hit a discordant note here because of a dispute with Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, who had been a campaign co-chairman in the state and who has been locked in a long dispute with the city's firefighters union. When the firefighters threatened to picket a Clinton event in the city, the campaign asked Cicilline to stay away, and the mayor angrily resigned from his role with Clinton.

He said he still plans to vote for her on Tuesday but added: "I continue to be very disappointed with the way the campaign handled that." Cicilline is also a superdelegate who might have a role in deciding his party's eventual nominee. In an interview at City Hall, he said that "it would be disingenuous to say recent events won't have an impact" on his decision.