Cohen canvasses for Obama in Philadelphia

Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union) this weekend led a contingent of about 100 Sen. Barack Obama supporters to Philadelphia to go door-to-door for the Democratic Party presidential candidate days before the Pennsylvania primary.

The latest MSNBC poll puts Obama behind Sen. Hillary Clinton, 48% to 43% in Pennsylvania.

Selected last week by his party to serve as an Obama delegate at the  Democratic National Convention in August, Cohen has volunteered for Obama for the past year.

"We had a wide range of volunteers from Union, Roselle, Elizabeth and Cranford," said Cohen of his Saturday canvassing trip. "The campaign has about a couple dozen district offices in Philly. The one we went to on Pratt Street was extremely well-organized."

Cohen said he was particularly pleased to see the participation of 17-year old volunteers who will turn 18 in November to vote in their first presidential election for the candidate Cohen hopes will be Obama.

"They’ll vote for Obama as I first voted for Bobby Kennedy," the assemblyman said.

Obama trails in Pennsylvania, though he leads Clinton in the number of overall pledged delegates. "Barack’s down by four or five points," said Cohen. "Clinton’s not going to get a blow-out, as she needed."