EVANSVILLE | Barack Obama was in his element here Tuesday night. Working-class rocker John Cougar Mellencamp was in the house and thousands cheered as the Democratic front-runner took the stage to give his take on his narrow loss and the road ahead. He sounded hopeful and confident.

"It's easy to get caught up in the distractions and the silliness and the tit-for-tat that consumes our politics; the bickering that none of us are immune to, and that trivializes the profound issues -- two wars, an economy in recession, a planet in peril," he told a crowd estimated at 8,000.

"But that kind of politics is not why we're here. It's not why I'm here and it's not why you're here," he said.

Yet, the picture on stage belied a growing sense of frustration in the Obama camp. It was no accident the Illinois senator's top adviser, David Axelrod, left Philadelphia wearing a shirt that read "Stop the Drama, Vote Obama."

The six weeks on the ground in Pennsylvania were filled with drama for the Obama camp, some self-inflicted, the rest just bruising politics.

And as he made his closing arguments ahead of this latest contest, the drama seemed to overtake his clear-eyed message of hope and change. It was a stark contrast from the straight line of victories he experienced with 11 straight wins early in the campaign.

He reached 70,000 people in the three days leading up to yesterday's Pennsylvania primary. He packed the streets near Independence Mall, filled out grassy lawns near train stops, and drew thousands to college and high school gyms. His camp blanketed the airwaves with ads, pouring $7 million into this campaign, outspending a debt-ridden Hillary Clinton by 2 to 1.

But it wasn't enough. Down by 20 when the race started, he cut Clinton's edge to 10 points with 85 percent of the vote counted.

At times throughout his Pennsylvania campaigning he seemed pulled down -- both by the weight of his own gaffes and by his opponent's tenacity. On other occasions he appeared just tired and frustrated.

On the eve of the election, he pulled back from harsh comments but seemed again to be trying out different venues -- a small forum, a town hall meeting, finally a coliseum rally -- to find his voice again.

According to his staff, Obama will do smaller forums to reach the all-important blue-collar voting bloc in Indiana, which is now the "tiebreaker" state.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.