Obama to Hamas: No thanks

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PHILADELPHIA — Front-runner status brings unexpected headaches, and Sen. Barack Obama continues to show he's not immune.

Mr. Obama's campaign yesterday was forced to reject an unsolicited endorsement by the Islamist terror group Hamas as the candidate worked to reassure leery Jewish voters, and his supporters derided Wednesday's debate as unfair.

In Pennsylvania, Mr. Obama's prodigious fundraising is allowing him to flood the airwaves with ads to cut away rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's lead here, but voters say they can't click the remote control without seeing the Democratic aspirant's face — and even supporters think it's too much.

"Part of me says, yeah, I'm getting tired of that stuff because it's been going on for so long but because we're right up to the edge, I can handle it for the next couple of days," said Jerry Bowers, an Obama volunteer from Mechanicsburg.

Lots of ads are "part of the process," he added.

But a recent American Research Group (ARG) poll found 23 percent of likely voters in Pennsylvania"s primary Tuesday think the Obama ads — at least 14 different spots that have blanketed the airwaves from network news to MTV — are "excessive." The ads promise change and outline his biography.

As for Hamas, the campaign for Mr. Obama, who frequently lambastes the Bush administration for its arrogance toward other nations, denounced the terror group critical of the White House"s "domination and arrogance."

"Senator Obama has repeatedly rejected and denounced the actions of Hamas, a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of many innocents, that is dedicated to Israel's destruction," Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

"As president, Obama will work with Israel to isolate terrorist groups like Hamas, target their resources, and support Israel's right and capability to defend itself from any attack."

Hamas' top political adviser, Ahmed Yousef, embraced the Obama campaign Sunday in an interview on WABC radio, saying, "We like Mr. Obama. We hope he will [win] the election."