In an obvious attempt to curry favor with Pennsylvania voters,  Barack Obama selected the University of Pittsburgh to reach the NCAA Final Four. Pittsburgh has just lost to Michigan State in the second round, 65-54, an eleven point defeat.

Bill Burton, press secretary to Obama, brushed off the loss, explaining that the campaign expected to be competitive in Pennsylvania but not to win it. In a conference call with reporters, Burton slammed the Hillary campaign for injecting race into the campaign: "Pittsburgh's leading scorer was a white player. The public is sick and tired of these dog-whistle references by the Clinton Campaign."

Later in the conference call campaign manager David Axelrod slammed Clinton for being untrustworthy: "Hilary's campaign knows Michigan was never going to count, yet they continue to point to Michigan as a win. Voters are fed up with this `old politics.' It's just another sign of a panicked campaign knowing they cannot win, throwing the kitchen sink at us."

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer had no immediate comment.