Bits and Pieces: Still Hillary Clinton

A Weekend in Pennsylvania. You can sense the optimism of the Democrats. Much as they try, they can't disguise it.

There remains a residual fear that once again people will stay at home on election day, particularly if the weather is bad.

The other fear concerns race, that some working class Democrats won't vote for a black candidate. The issue is openly discussed and no-one knows what part it will play in the silence of the voting booth.

This afternoon we were in Scranton, where Bill and Hillary Clinton appeared with Joe Biden and his wife Jill. There are still people who voted for Hillary in the primaries but are resisting voting for Barack Obama. We met a biker called Joe who was precisely in that position. He said he'd supported Hillary but was worried about Obama's background.

Hillary still has strong support in places like Scranton. She was met with long chants of "Hillary, Hillary, Hillary". So, even though the polls are encouraging, the Democrats are deploying the Clintons to try to target white, working class voters. [Gavin Hewitt]