Though still trailing in the polls, the possibility of eking out a victory in Pennsylvania and deep-sixing Hillary Clinton has Obama backers, including me, hoping and praying. Some examples:
A reporter from the UK Telegraph reports on the excitement:
In an effort to rebut Mrs Clinton's charge that he does nothing more than give "woop-de-doo speeches", Mr Obama reeled off economic statistics about Scranton being an economic "shambles".
But the sense of almost divine mission around his candidacy remains. When a woman shouted "We need you", Mr Obama responded: "I know. I'm coming."
Toby Harnden offers a how-it-could-happen scenario, with numerous examples. Here are two:
5. Many Democrats want this to be over. There’s a fear out there that John McCain could be gaining traction because the Democratic race has dragged on. Voters in New Hampshire handed Clinton an unlikely win because they wanted the race to continue and didn’t see why one victory in Iowa should seal it. Pennsylvanians may do the opposite and hand Obama an unlikely win because they don’t see why Puerto Rico – or super-delegates - should decide.
6. The growing sense that Obama cannot lose the nomination – this is linked to 5. In the six weeks since Texas and Ohio there has been a steady bleed of super-delegates to Obama and the match-up polls with John McCain do not give weight to Clinton’s argument that she is more “electable”. The decisive victories she needs do not seem to be on the horizon – she’s way behind in North Carolina while in Indiana (which she has to win) she’s level.
Politico finds some amazing voter registration stats:
According to the Secretary of State’s office, since January about 217,000 new voters have registered for the April 22 primary, the vast majority of whom signed up as Democrats.
In Philadelphia, by far the state’s largest city, more than 12,000 new Democrats were added to the rolls in the final week before the March registration deadline, compared to just 509 Republicans.
That statewide Democratic surge has been accompanied by a flood of party-switching. More than 178,000 voters have changed their party status since January — and the Democrats have captured 92 percent of those voters.
In Delaware County, a Philadelphia suburb once home to a storied Republican machine, nearly 14,000 voters have switched their party affiliation to Democratic since January compared to just 768 who became Republicans.
And this evening on NPR, Hillary was given a chance to speak but didn't respond, while Barack got in a quick phone interview, and in his quiet-but-firm way, left no doubt about who was the better candidate. He sounds completely at ease, relaxed, which makes his understated criticisms all the more telling.
Barack on All Things Considered before Pennsylvania primary:
