If the long-running Democratic presidential race were a play, Republicans would be clamoring for even more after the six-week intermission now giving way to the Pennsylvania primary. Little more than a month ago, few voters knew of Barack Obama (web|news|bio) 's controversial pastor or Hillary Rodham Clinton (web|news|bio) 's make-believe story about sniper fire in Bosnia. Obama hadn't ruminated to his own detriment about bitterness in small-town America. And Clinton hadn't felt it necessary to rearrange her staff after her top strategist supported a Colombian free trade pact she opposes.

Obama hadn't bowled. Nor the former first lady gamely knocked back a shot of Crown Royal, then picked up a beer mug.

All this - and more - has occurred since the most recent Democratic primaries, Clinton's late-winter wins in Texas and Ohio on March 5 and Obama's victory in Mississippi a week later.

"We're going on, we're going strong and we're going all the way," Clinton had said as she breathed new energy into her candidacy.

The six-week break gave Obama time to go to the beach with his family and Clinton the opportunity to regroup after breaking an 11-state losing streak.

And it presented Republican John McCain (web|news|bio) with a chance to improve his standing in general election polls.

Obama led McCain 52-40 in a hypothetical matchup in March, but his edge had dropped to 49-44 by last week, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll. What had been a 50-44 lead for Clinton became a 48-45 race, advantage McCain.

"Obviously, the fact that our contest is still going on means that John McCain comes in here and he's feeling pretty good," Obama told newspaper publishers recently, a few hours after the Republican candidate had appeared before the same group.

"I suspect he's getting more sleep than either Sen. Clinton or myself."

In a landslide.

Look at Memphis, site of ceremonies this month marking the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination.

With McCain's Republican nomination long since secured, the Arizona senator's chartered plane rolled to a stop the afternoon before his scheduled speech. He had time for rest and a leisurely dinner with friends. The next day, speech behind him, he flew out around dusk, bound for his home in Phoenix.

By contrast, it was 5 a.m. when Clinton made it to her hotel, only 6 hours before her speech at the church where King delivered the final sermon of his life. Then followed a series of meetings stretching into the afternoon, a flight to North Dakota for an evening speech, and a plane ride to Oregon for what remained of the night.

Increasingly, it seemed both Democrats were spending their time recovering from campaign stumbles, and criticizing one another in television ads.

In mid-March, Obama was thrown on the defensive when it was disclosed that his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, had accused the United States of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism.

Such statements are "completely unacceptable and inexcusable," said Obama, campaigning to become the first black president, and he sought to lay the issue to rest with a widely noted speech on race.

Soon, though, Obama was in trouble again, this time completely of his own making. Speaking at a closed fundraiser, he said residents of small-town America were bitter, and clung to religion and guns as a result.

Clinton said the remarks were elitist. "Pennsylvanians don't need a president who looks down on them," she said as the controversy flared. "They need a president who stands up for them."

Obama hit back with a memorable, if personal comment, playing off her attempts to identify with the state's rural gun culture.

"She's talking like she's Annie Oakley," he said. "Hillary Clinton is out there like she's on the duck blind every Sunday. She's packing a six-shooter. Come on, she knows better. That's some politics being played by Hillary Clinton."

Clinton's biggest error of the past six weeks was unforced, her statement that she had braved sniper fire as first lady while landing in Bosnia. Videotape of the incident made clear that hadn't happened, and the Obama campaign sought to draw attention to the episode to undermine her credibility.

Clinton's spokesman said she had misspoken, but she went further than that in hopes to tamping down the controversy.

"I made a mistake," she said. "That happens. It proves I'm human, which you know, for some people, is a revelation."

Clinton also confronted problems inside her campaign, when it was disclosed that Mark Penn, her chief strategist, had met with representatives of the Colombian government to help promote a Colombian free trade agreement. He did so in his capacity as chief executive of public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, but Clinton opposes the agreement, and within a few days, she shuffled the staff.

There were a few moments of humor tucked in among the gaffes, the insults and the controversies, the most notable triggered by Obama's comically poor attempt at bowling.

"My economic plan is better than my bowling," Obama told fellow bowlers one Saturday evening at the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center.

"It has to be," responded a local man, his assessment unchallenged.

From a distance, Clinton sensed an opening.

I have a proposal to make," she said a few days later. "Today, I am challenging Senator Obama to a bowl-off."

"A bowling night. Right here in Pennsylvania. The winner take all," she went on.

"It is time for his campaign to get out of the gutter and allow all the pins to be counted."

April Fools.

Joke's on the Democrats.

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EDITOR'S NOTE - David Espo covers politics for The Associated Press.

Written By DAVID ESPO

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