Considering the polls, one of the few chances Obama has to win -- or least not get blown out -- the April 22 primary is to get a slew of new Democrats registered from the ranks of Independents and Republicans.

The AP reports today that registration, which has a March 24 deadline, is indeed at a "brisk" pace:

Since last fall's election, statewide Democratic enrollment has swelled by more than 111,000 - an increase of about 3 percent in less than six months that state elections Commissioner Harry VanSickle said is apparently unprecedented. With days to go, Democratic registration is barely 5,000 votes shy of a record 4 million.

"The volume is very large, very steady," said Jim Forsythe, director of voter services in Chester County, a Philadelphia suburb where Democratic enrollment grew by nearly 7 percent - the second-largest gain among the 67 counties.

The smaller statewide enrollments of Republicans and voters not registered in either party have both declined slightly.

Neither the Obama nor Clinton campaigns will offer a public estimate of how much they contributed to the increased registration, and certainly other factors are at work.

But hundreds of Obama volunteers have stepped up their voter registration efforts in recent weeks on the streets, on college campuses and in nightly telephone canvassing among the nearly 1 million registered independent voters. In earlier Democratic primaries where independents could vote, Obama has outpolled Clinton, 54 percent to 40 percent, according to exit polls.

The Clinton campaign has also mounted a major registration effort in Pennsylvania, the first time in the primary season it has done so. While the former first lady has drawn most of her support in other states from traditional Democratic "base" voters, her aides believe she is positioned strongly enough in Pennsylvania to draw a significant number of independents, especially independent women.

Reporter Peter Jackson goes on to say that Obama is using ads on the Iraq war and his plan to help loan-burdened college students to pick up young voters in the Pittsburgh/Harrisburg areas. In Philly, Obama is going after GOP voters and Independents by focusing on ethics reform.