Americans are "electing a president to solve problems, not give speeches" Hillary Rodham Clinton told a Penn State University crowd Sunday night in a barb aimed at rival Barack Obama.

Taking on both Obama and John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, Clinton criticized Obama for saying McCain would be an improvement over President Bush.

"We need a nominee who will take on John McCain, not cheer him on," she told about 2,500 supporters at Recreation Hall.

The criticism extended to the television airwaves. Shortly after Clinton's campaign put out a commercial accusing her Democratic presidential rival of accepting campaign contributions from lobbyists over the last decade, Obama's campaign responded with its own new ad attacking her ad.

The back-and-forth came during a frenzied final weekend of campaigning across the state before Pennsylvania's Tuesday primary. The advertising barrage was followed by conference calls in which each campaign tried to claim the high moral ground and accuse the other of slinging mud.

Rather than settle anything, the seven-week Pennsylvania contest is starting to look a lot like Groundhog Day, as polls show Clinton with a narrow lead. A victory for her on Tuesday could mean another six weeks of primary fights.

Obama also was busy Sunday, attending church in Lebanon before holding a town hall meeting in Reading and a rally with U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. in Scranton. Both Casey and Clinton have ties to the region, which has a lot of older, working-class and Catholic voters that favor Clinton.

But if Scranton is considered Clinton Country, Clinton was on in Obama territory in Happy Valley, where she tried her best to make a campus connection, noting that she's proud to be the daughter and brother of former Penn State football players.

The event was a marked contrast to when her husband, former President Clinton, was at the same venue about three weeks ago and drew 7,000 people to a campaign event. And three weeks ago, Obama drew more than 20,000 people for a rally on the Old Main Lawn.

"I have done very well with the youth vote in many of the states that I've won and I think I'll do well here," Clinton said during an interview after the rally.

"I thought we'd have as many people here as we did yesterday for the Blue and White game," Gov. Ed Rendell joked.

Rendell and U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, joined Clinton in State College and an earlier Johnstown rally.

In addition to the Philadelphia region, Rendell has said Centre County is one of the places Obama will be focusing on getting voters to turn out because of his strong support among young, more liberal and better-educated voters.

"It's kind of overwhelming," said Christian Zeme, a Penn State sophomore from Scranton. "They do outnumber us, but we're trying to fight back."

Zeme, part of a campus group for Clinton, said students have been canvassing neighborhoods and on campus, sending e-mails and calling Democratic voters.

Some of the strongest reaction came when Clinton spoke of her plans to make college more affordable.

A large "Oh!" erupted from the bleachers when Clinton told how she paid only 2 percent interest on her college loans.

Clinton drew huge cheers when she promised to increase grant and other college assistance and crack down on predatory student lenders who charge up to 27 percent interest.

She also pledged to replace student loan forms that she called a "cruel hoax" because so many families are rejected with a sliding formula based on tax returns.