(CNN) – Rep. John Murtha, a supported of Barack Obama’s presidential bid, apologized Thursday for calling western Pennsylvania “a racist area.”

“While we cannot deny that race is a factor in this election, I believe we’ve been able to look beyond race these past few months, and that voters today are concerned with the policy differences of our two candidates and their vision for the future of our great country,” he said, in a statement issued by his office.

“Senator Obama has shown sound judgment and has presented us with a change from the failed policies of George Bush and John McCain. I believe he will win both Pennsylvania and the White House.”

Murtha’s apology came after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted a story on its Web site Wednesday which quotes the veteran Democratic congressman as saying, "no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area," and predicting that those attitudes could cost the Illinois senator on Election Day.

In a statement later that day, a Murtha spokesman defended the remarks, telling the Associated Press that "It's naive to think that race or gender doesn't play a role in a voter's perception of a candidate.”

Obama has struggled to connect with rural Pennsylvanians for much of the campaign. His infamous “bitter” comments — about residents of some of the state’s small towns — became a rallying cry for primary rival Hillary Clinton, who took that contest by a nearly double-digit margin.

In recent weeks, a YouTube video of labor leader Richard Trumka describing a racist reaction to Obama he encountered on a trip back to his western Pennsylvania hometown has become an Internet sensation.

"Our kids are moving away because there's no future here," Trumka says in a widely-circulated clip of his speech to United Steelworkers convention this year. "And here's a man, Barack Obama, who's going to fight for people like us, and you won't vote for him because of the color of his skin? Are you out of your ever-loving mind?"

The battleground state has not backed a Republican presidential candidate in two decades. Obama currently leads John McCain by 12 points – 52 to 40 percent – in the most recent CNN poll of polls out of Pennsylvania. Eight percent of the state’s likely voters remain unsure of their presidential pick.

Murtha campaigned with Clinton in his home district in Pennsylvania.

LATROBE, Pennsylvania (CNN) – Rep. John Murtha's endorsement of Hillary Clinton on March 18 came at a welcome moment for the Democratic candidate: it was only her second endorsement from a superdelegate over the course of several weeks.

On Monday evening in his home district, the anti-war champion and 17-term congressman campaigned with Clinton for the first time and explained his presidential pick.

"Let me tell you something," Murtha said, taking the microphone from Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. "I have served with seven presidents, and they all got gray hair except for Reagan. Anybody that’s been in the White House for eight years knows how tough it is, understands, has the experience that you need to be president of the United States."

Murtha said he is "convinced that we are in one of the worst situations that I have seen in the 35 years I have been in Congress," but argued that Clinton is “a person that understands the policy" who can restore "our credibility worldwide."

Rendell praised him for vocalizing his opposition to the Iraq war in 2005 and joked that "Jack Murtha is so important to Pennsylvania and has done so much for us that I almost considered having the historic commission put up one of those markers outside his house."

Clinton said she was honored to have Murtha's endorsement.

Murtha endorsed Clinton Tuesday.

(CNN) — Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha announced Tuesday he's backing Hillary Clinton's White House bid.

In a statement, Murtha said Clinton is "the candidate that will forge a consensus on health care, education, the economy, and the war in Iraq.

"I've known Senator Clinton for fifteen years," he said. "I know that she continually reaches out for opinions and ideas not just from our nation's leaders, but from all Americans."

Murtha’s announcement comes several weeks before the critical Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary. He is also the latest so-called Democratic “Super Delegate” to choose sides in the contest between Clinton and Barack Obama. According to CNN's latest estimate, Clinton leads Obama among super delegates by 30, though that margin is significantly less than it was before Super Tuesday.