Obama gains support from second female U.S. senator

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama secured the backing of a second female senator Monday.

Freshman Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who recently voiced concerns about the rancorous tone of the Democratic primary, said she was forced to choose after the difficulty of remaining uncommitted.

"Between Barack and a hard place, I chose Barack," she told reporters in a conference call. "He's able to dissolve the hard cynical edge that has dominated our politics under the Bush administration."

Klobuchar joins Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill in backing Obama, who hasn't fared as well with white female voters as Clinton has. Clinton leads Obama among white women 59 percent to 36 percent, according to exit polls of 27 competitive Democratic primaries held so far. Obama has won among white females in only Vermont, New Mexico and his home state of Illinois, while tying Clinton in Utah.

Klobuchar said the party will be unified at the end of the contest.

"I have faith that our candidates will figure this out and that this will come to a conclusion in early summer," she said, adding that she wasn't sure how it would happen. "I just know these two people and they are very strong people and they have good hearts. And I believe that they'll do the right thing and will figure this out."

Klobuchar's decision follows last Friday's endorsement from Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr., who has campaigned with Obama on his six-day bus tour of the Keystone State.

Clinton holds a double-digit lead in state polls and Obama is trying to erase or at least cut into her advantage in the April 22 primary. Gov. Ed Rendell, who backs Clinton, said Monday that Obama was probably making up ground.

"We have a very strong lead, but I think that lead is going to shrink," Rendell said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Rendell appeared on the program with Casey, who said Obama is "certainly the underdog in our state."

Obama spoke at a town hall Monday morning and planned to visit a gas station later in the day to highlight the rising cost of a gallon of gas. As part of his campaign in the state, Obama is airing an ad in which he says he's not beholden to the oil companies and offers his plan for energy independence.

"I don't want to make promises I can't keep. So I don't promise that the minute I'm elected suddenly the gas prices drop a buck," Obama told the town-hall audience. "That's not gonna happen but what I can promise is we can go after those windfalls."