Rendell and Schwarzenegger on This Week Feb. 21

Both governors agree that the stimulus worked. The problem for states is what happens when the stimulus dries up. Will there be enough private sector jobs to boost local and state economies?
Both agree that the worst is over.
Both governors agree that more infrastructure spending is needed.

Schwarzenegger says the tea party is an expression of dissatisfaction and anger, but he says tea party is not going anywhere.

Watch the roundtable here. George Will says that CPAC was the "hour of the entertainer." Arianna and George Will, two peas in a pod as far as representing the extremes, agree that all the talk about partisanship is a joke. That's because they don't believe in bipartisanship, they don't believe in compromise. PARTISAN PEOPLE DON'T BELIEVE IN BIPARTISANSHIP. Arianna uses a lame example of freeing half the slaves. I'm so sick of Arianna, who uses poor partisan logic.

Michelle Obama Visits Philly Grocery Store - Video

Michelle Obama's remarks at Fairhill Elementary School in Philadelphia:

Transcript.
Visit Let's Move.

Timothy Geithner in tow:

The first lady, accompanied by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, greeted the workers, telling them, “You guys are great.”

The first lady said that she “didn’t think many Treasury Secretaries can claim childhood obesity as part of their portfolio.”

“It’s pretty cool to have your husband’s Treasury Secretary enthusiastically as part of this imitative,” she said. “So I salute you.”

Obama made her way down the aisles to the fruit smoothie machine, where she ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie.

“I have my own money,” she told a worker, pulling out a $20 bill to pay for it. Politico

Barbour and Rendell on Meet the Press

I love the look of joy on Nancy Pelosi's face. She's never been one of my favorites, but she's proven to be a tough cookie. She gets major kudos for seeing the legislation through while putting up with all the personal assaults from the right.
Haley Barbour and other republicans are under the false assumption that the tea partiers represent America. That's their problem. They can't see out of their narrow tunnel:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bloomberg, Schwarzenegger, Rendell Express Support for Obama

On Meet the Press, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell defended Obama's stimulus spending.
Investing in infrastructure -- trains, roads, bridges...-- is necessary.

Ed Rendell says people are mad about AIG because they can get their arms around it. Indeed. If we only knew. I agree with David Brooks--AIG hysterics are out of control, largely because we don't know much about banking.

As Obama said on Leno, what AIG and the banks did was LEGAL. Hello. It's the entire system that needs fixed. The system ran free and greed took over. Getting bonus money back is like finding a penny. 

It seems clear that governors are wiser than congressional leaders, probably because they have more hands on experience. They don't let their political affiliation get in the way as much as congressional leaders. They see the value of the stimulus because their states need help. Yet there are some states that desperately need help -- South Carolina-- and their leader, Mark Sanford, is being political, declining stimulus money. I'd guess that's because he's in the hard right south. That area in general has always had issues (largely issues of ignorance) with Obama.

About Obama, Mayor Bloomberg said: "I think he's going to be a great president."

Boomberg said the president is taking on the tough issues. Schwarzenegger and Rendell also were upbeat about Obama and the future. It was good to hear, for once.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Joe and Jill Biden Hosts New Senator Cocktail Party Tonight

From Politico:

VICE PRESIDENT AND DR. JILL BIDEN HAVE A COCKTAIL PARTY TONIGHT at the Naval Observatory for new senators and their families. The guest list: Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Roland Burris (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

ALSO ON THE V.P.'s SKED, per the White House: 'He will have a breakfast meeting at the Naval Observatory with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He will then have private meetings at the White House. ... The Vice President will be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with Governor Ed Rendell on Wednesday for an event to discuss the Administration's plan to put aside politics as usual and implement a plan to create jobs, jumpstart growth and transform our economy for the 21st century. On Thursday, the Vice President will lead a Presidential Delegation to the World Special Olympics in Boise, Idaho.'

Rendell Slams Obama Again

Pennsylvania governor, Ed Rendell, said a lot of nasty stuff about Obama during the election. He supported Hillary.
He gave half hearted support after Obama won the democratic nomination and did a little whining along the way. 

Apparently, he didn't get a job he wanted with Obama's administration. He's going to continue being a thorn. Unfortunately, he seems to like to be on TV expressing his opinions. Politico says that criticizing his fellow democrats is just his style.

In this video, he has some praise for Blago and says Obama blew the Blago response because he's never been in an executive position. 

Ed Rendell Caught Being Ugly

I've never liked Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania. Not since all the nasty things he said about Obama while campaigning for Hillary. He's probably sore because he wasn't on the short list for any Obama jobs.
Here's another thing that politicians should know by now -- your mic is always on.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was picked up on an open microphone saying Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is a perfect fit for Homeland Security secretary because she "has no family."
Rendell made the comment Tuesday while attending a meeting of the National Governors Association in Philadelphia that featured President-elect Barack Obama.
Rendell says Napolitano is "perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it."

Rendell: Pennsylvania is Close

Ed Rendell agrees with McCain that Pennsylvania is close.

Gov. Ed Rendell Friday said the presidential race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain is "closer than the polls indicate." Urging people to get out and vote in Tuesday's general election, Rendell said Obama does not have a double-digit lead in Pennsylvania and he told voters to take an umbrella and dress warmly to withstand the weather.

"Stay in that line and make sure you vote," Rendell told about 50 people at Wilkes University. "I've seen polls that have the race as close as four points."

John McCain is Our Next President

Just thought I'd shake you up a little.

That would be the headline on Nov. 5 if we decided not to vote or stopped canvassing or calling or talking to our friends and relatives. We would be in agony.

So for those who are thinking they may not vote because they're not really needed, you're needed more than ever. Nothing matters until Nov. 4. All these polls could be dead wrong. There's a lot going on this election and I doubt any pollster will have nailed it.

We can't have a squeaky election, where Obama wins by a hair because it will be contested until the cows come home. We need a great big undeniable win.
It's not in the bag.

Politico: Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is urging his fellow Democrats not to get complacent in the waning days of the presidential race.

“I think complacency is our biggest foe in Pennsylvania,” Rendell said Sunday on CBS' “Face the Nation.”

Rendell said he is “not taking anything for granted” and disputed a recent poll showing Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) with a double-digit lead in Pennsylvania.

The governor joked he should start “charging [Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin] state income tax” because the Republican vice presidential nominee has spent so much time campaigning in his state.

“I think we are going to be all right,” Rendell said. “But every governor has to be a little bit nervous.”

Virginia Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine agreed, saying that he, too, is not taking anything for granted in his state, which has not voted for a Democrat for president since 1964.

“We realize we haven't done this for a very long time in Virginia, so we're going to consider ourselves the underdogs until we finally break the string,” Kaine said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Democratic strategist James Carville apparently didn’t get the memo, however,as he boldly declared “this race is done, it’s over,” on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

Hillary Backer Ed Rendell Undermining Obama

This is from the governor of Pennsylvania, who gave a blowhard speech at the convention yesterday. Tell me there isn't a campaign to undermine Obama. If Hillary can't be president, neither can Obama.

WaPo: DENVER -- Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell captured the jitters of the Democratic Party today when he conceded that for all Barack Obama's gifts, "he's not exactly the easiest guy in the world to identify with" and urged the presumptive nominee to start punching back against Republican attacks.

In a wide ranging interview, Rendell insisted that while Obama still has not won over perhaps 30 percent of Hillary Rodham Clinton's voters, he will have locked down 95 percent of them by midnight tonight, after Clinton speaks to the Democratic National Convention here. But Rendell, a strong Clinton supporter during the primaries, made it clear he thinks Obama still has work to do with the white, working class voters who backed her.

"With people who have a lot of gifts, it's hard for people to identify with them," the governor said. "Barack Obama is handsome. He's incredibly bright. He's incredibly well spoken, and he's incredibly successful -- not exactly the easiest guy in the world to identify with."

Not if your an idiot.

Ed Rendell Still Sore

Ed Rendell, the governor of Pennsylvania, has said he's voting for Hillary at the convention but he's backing Obama. That's just weird. Here he is once more showing his devoted Hillary love: 

Politico:

"Ladies and gentleman, the coverage of Barack Obama was embarrassing," said Rendell, in the ballroom at Denver's Brown Palace Hotel. "It was embarrassing."

Rendell, an ardent Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter during the primaries, now backs Obama in the general election. Brokaw and Rendell began debating campaign coverage, including the on-air comments by Lee Cowan, and when MSNBC came up, Rendell went after the cable network.

“MSNBC was the official network of the Obama campaign," Rendell said, who called their coverage "absolutely embarrassing."

Chris Matthews, Rendell said, "loses his impartiality when he talks about the Clintons.”

At that point, PBS's Judy Woodruff, who was moderating the moderators event, said: "Why don’t we let Governor Rendell sit down."

That was met with applause from the crowd of big-time media figures, which included Arianna Huffington, Gwen Ifill, Al Hunt, and Chuck Todd.

Hillary Thugs Have Launched Obama Attack

Thug shirt

Ed Rendell is going to vote for Hillary and now Hillary's PUMAs are going to try and sway the delegates' votes at the convention. These folks are in utter denial.They also travel in small packs, though their roar is loud and racist.

Commercial Appeal: A massive e-mail and Internet campaign is under way aimed at derailing the nomination of Barack Obama and making Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party’s standard bearer next week at the national convention in Denver.

“It’s downright nasty,” said Memphis superdelegate and City Council member Myron Lowery, who has shared dozens of the messages he’s received with The Commercial Appeal.

“I think it’s divisive for the ‘Support Hillary’ campaign to continue at this time. She made the decision to fully support Mr. Obama,” said Lowery. “I don’t know why they’re not taking their cue from Hillary and falling in line.”

Lowery said he does not believe Clinton herself is behind the effort, but that it’s “her supporters, acting on their own because they’re proud of what they have done for her.”
...
“I think it’s a terrible tactic,” said Denver delegate and Shelby County Democratic Party Chairman Keith Norman. “We had hoped that this kind of politics, especially from within the party, would have been abandoned.”

Norman noted that some of the attacks are overtly racist and that in one instance Obama was likened to “the Anti-Christ.”

“We have a historic moment that we need to grasp and we need to move forward as a unified party,” he said.

They're not taking a cue because Hillary hasn't addressed the PUMAs and has spoken out of both sides of her mouth.

Ed Rendell Wants to Relieve Himself at Convention

The governor of Pennsylvania is voting for Hillary and that will give him a "release," which is exactly what Obama is going for. What's wrong with these people? Pennsylvania is an important state and he's setting a poor example.

If it had been the other way around, and Hillary won the nomination, Hillary wouldn't have had to put up with any of this nonsense because Obama would've done the respectful thing. He would've told his diehard supporters to rally to Hillary because the cause is greater than the candidate. He wouldn't have allowed PUMA like creatures to have air space.

But in Hillary's case, the ego is greater than the cause. Sadly, the Clintons and their crew can't seem to move past themselves.

And people wonder why Obama isn't further ahead in the polls.

CNN: "It honors the hard work of so many people who supported Sen. Clinton," he told PolitickerPA. "Many of the Pennsylvania delegates worked their heart out for Sen. Clinton, and they're excited to cast a vote for her. From my vantage point, that will be closure for them."

"Early on, I said I would cast my ballot for Sen. Clinton," he also said. "I'm going to cast my ballot for her, and then the moment I cast my vote, I'm going to continue to enthusiastically support Sen. Obama. It's going to be a good release for all of us."

Hillary Supporters Bombarding Isenhour with Hate Mail

Who are these diehard Hillary supporters? They're the kind of people that send hate mail to a woman who ran Hillary's Pennsylvania campaign.

The executive director of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party said she has been blitzed with written and verbal assaults from Hillary Clinton supporters after asking the state’s Clinton delegates this week to hold off on trying to get the New York senator on the nominating ballot at the upcoming convention.

“I had hate voicemails and hate emails,” said Mary Isenhour, adding that all of the responses have come from out-of-state Clinton supporters who had caught wind of her e-mail, not from the 90-plus delegates who her note was addressed to Monday. [Hat tips: Daily News' Philly Clout, Keystone Politics]

Isenhour, who ran Clinton’s campaign in Pennsylvania during the primary campaign, said she sent the e-mail at the request of Gov. Ed Rendell. The note asked delegates to refrain from signing a petition circulating to get Clinton on the ballot “until we know what Senator Clinton and Senator [Barack] Obama have worked out” regarding Clinton’s potential nomination at the convention.

Another misnomer is that they keep referring to themselves as 18 million strong but most of Hillary's supporters have moved on. The fact is, Hillary encouraged these people by not shutting them down. She served her own ego (she wants to be in history books) and nothing else.

Hillary's Aide: She Lost Iowa Because of Edwards

It's amazing the lengths that Hillary, her husband and crew have gone to undermine Obama. 

It's obvious. She didn't win and she doesn't want Obama to win. It's getting tedious.

She campaigns for Obama and says she's behind him and then she's off coyly telling her supporters another thing. 

Today, Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania, is saying Hillary could win Obama 15 states.
The idea is even being floated that she could win the nomination at the convention.

And let's not forget Mark Penn, who advised Hillary to paint Obama as Un American. Creep. I'm sure John McCain thanks you. 

Now her former communications director said they would've won Iowa if Edwards hadn't lied. Nice unity.

Her crew is so divisive and they're in denial or they're prepping for a Big: I told you so. If Obama lost in November, that would boost Hillary. 

If Obama didn't have to fend off the Hillarys as well as McCain and the Republicans, he might be further along.

Swamp: Sen. Hillary Clinton's former communications director, Howard Wolfson, said he believes the New York senator would have won Iowa if John Edwards' affair had been exposed earlier, forcing him out of the race.

"I believe we would have won Iowa, and Clinton today would therefore have been the nominee," Wolfson told ABCNews.com.

"Our voters and Edwards' voters were the same people," Wolfson continued. "They were older, pro-union. Not all, but maybe two-thirds of them would have been for us and we would have barely beaten Obama."

Obama Testing Vice President Chemistry

Sam Nunn and Evan Bayh (Bayh supported Hillary in a big way) will join Obama on the campaign trail. Anyone but Ed Rendell. I hear his name a lot but after seeing him lie for Hillary during the primaries, he seems as old school as it gets. Here's another tidbit, if California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be the environment and energy czar, what happens to Al Gore? Vice president?

CNN: The Illinois senator is set to be joined on the trail by Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and former Georgia Sen. Sam Nunn — two Democrats widely believed to be on the shortlist for the vice presidential spot.

The two are set to join Obama at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana for a discussion on national security issues — a forum that is designed to set to stage for the Democratic president candidate's overseas trip next week.

Specifically, the three are set to discuss nuclear non-proliferation, bioterrorism, cyber security and emerging national security threats.

Bayh, who comes from a powerful Indiana family and once served as governor of the state, remains a very popular figure there. His aggressive campaigning on behalf of Hillary Clinton during the state's Democratic primary is widely seen as a chief factor for the New York senator's narrow victory there. He briefly flirted with his own presidential bid late last year but ultimately ruled against it.

Nunn remains one of the most respected national security and foreign policy experts on the national scene. The former senator has a serious, no-nonsense demeanor that would add instant gravitas to the ticket, and he is a popular figure in Georgia — a state the Obama campaign hopes to make competitive this cycle.

Hillary's Backers Undercutting Obama

well, i figured it was too good to be true. obama takes a couple of days off to spend time with his family and dianne feinstein is pushing hillary, popular vote! popular vote! she should be supporting obama now and quit with the hillary speak. with hillary, it's always one more thing. now, we're stuck with a bunch of politicians trying to push hillary as vice president. these people have become tedious.

politico: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a backer of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) during the primary campaign, reiterated on ABC’s “This Week” that Clinton had won the popular vote — an assertion that is not accepted by Illinois Democrat Sen. Barack Obama’s camp and one that, if repeated often, could harm Democratic attempts to unify behind him.

“Hillary Clinton is well known, certainly she had the popular vote in this election,” she said, according to a transcript. “That is something and that is something tremendous. Now, I believe the [vice presidential] nomination is up to him. I can't tell him what to do. Nobody else can tell him what to do. All I can say is I agree with [Pennsylvania Gov.] Ed Rendell, that if you really want a winning ticket, this is it.”

dick morris, who called the race long ago, says hillary didn't quit and won't.

rcp: Why won't Hillary just concede that she has lost and pull out of the race? Why does she persist in keeping her delegates in line for her and not releasing them to Obama? Why does she feign party unity while, in fact, undermining it?

The Clintons never do anything without a lot of thinking and planning. There is no benign explanation for her maneuvers. They have several options that they are deliberately keeping open by their increasingly awkward positioning. Here's what they're up to:

1. The Obama Stumbles Option

As Hillary says, June is "early" in politics when the convention is not to be held until the end of August, unusually late for a Democratic conclave. And, as Tip O'Neill says "a week is a long time in politics." So is three months.

mark penn, one of her advisers blames money. obama just ran a better campaign, he says, which is practically meaningless. it wasn't anything that hillary did, it was the money. well WHY didn't hillary receive enough money from her 18 million people she touts so often? or did her campaign mismanage the money?

Speculating Obama's Cabinet

some interesting and great selections from ebonyjet's "fantasy draft." love richardson as chief of staff and colin powell as veep and susan rice as security advisor:

Secretary of Defense – Chuck Hagel
This puts a moderate Republican in charge of the war machine, giving some measure of political cover when Obama withdraws troops from Iraq or moves more forcefully on Bin Laden in Pakistan.

National Security Advisor – Susan Rice
She’d be a great Secretary of State or UN Ambassador, but Obama will get much less of a honeymoon than others and politics will dictate that he throw this bone to someone more known to the Senate and Congress to assure confirmation. Like Condi, she’ll move to the big spot in Obama’s second term.

Secretary of Transportation – Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.
This rewards the Congressman for his work as a campaign chair and would be the formal “thank you” to Illinois. It allows Jackson to push his Peotone airport efforts and deliver public transportation pork to the state, further cementing his platform as future Mayor of Chicago. It also opens up a congressional seat for Jackson’s wife to step into.

Secretary of Commerce – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s knowledge of business and fondness for innovation makes him a great choice to shepherd American business into a more 21st century model for participating in the global economy. Give him the keys and let him run with it.

Attorney General – John Edwards
Trial lawyer. Champion of the little guy. A natural.

Department of Labor – Governor Ed Rendell
Another appeasement to Hillary supporters, this choice puts a man from a working class state in charge of symbolically carrying Clinton’s message about jobs.
more

fantasy draft 2

Vice President— Colin Powell
Forget about Hillary Clinton. She can’t be trusted to watch Obama’s back and besides—he’ll get two for the cost of one with hubby Bill attached to the deal. John Edwards looks good on camera but demonstrated as Kerry’s Veep that he’s not good at playing bad cop to the party nominee’s good cop; neither is Bill Richardson. Powell will make an unmistakable change statement for presidential nominee Obama. Selecting a Republican as his running mate would turn tradition on its head. The retired four-star general would cancel out John McCain’s military advantage. As a former presidential cabinet member for both Papa and Junior Bush, Powell was so popular among Republicans, independents and Reagan Democrats that many thought him a more viable candidate in 2000 than George W. I know this is out-of-the box thinking but Powell is basically a Republican by opportunity only and should be a welcomed addition to the other side of the aisle. Finally, for the nut jobs out there that might be planning an assassination attempt of the nation’s first African American Chief Executive, they’d be forced to think twice.

Chief of Staff—Gov. Bill Richardson
During the double-digit number of debates among the candidates for Democratic Party nomination for president, the governor of New Mexico demonstrated time and time again that he is both level-headed and a peace-maker. Richardson, who was one of the highest-ranking Hispanic appointees in President Clinton’s administration, brings the right blend of experience and respect to keep Obama’s White House in order.

Secretary of State—Sen. Joe Biden
At the risk of upsetting the balance of power in the senate, Obama will have to be frugal when it comes to recruiting for his cabinet among Democrats in the upper chamber. Fortunately, with the Republican brand in ruins, the Democrats should end up with enough new senate seats to offset Biden’s move into the inner-sanctum of the Oval Office. As the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the senior senator from Delaware has been a major proponent of a no-nonsense approach to bringing the troops home. Biden also commands respect on The Hill and in the Pentagon.

Attorney General—Lani Guinier
For the past seven years, justice has been denied to virtually any American whose net worth was not seven digits or greater. Labeled by the right as “anti-Constitution” and “the quota queen” when Bill Clinton nominated her for assistant attorney general in 1993, the president caved, kicking his former Yale Law School classmate under the bus. *Imminently (see Monroe's comment below) qualified, Guinier will make sure that the poor and the wage earner gets their just due.

Secretary of Defense—Sam Nunn
As a member of the Obama administration, the four-term retired Georgia senator will have to tamp down his opposition to gays in the military if any change is gonna come. But, beyond that discriminatory instinct, the former chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services is ideal for Defense Secretary. Right now, Nunn is the co-chairman—with Ted Turner--and Chief Executive Officer of the NTI (Nuclear Threat Initiative), a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

National Security Advisor—Susan Rice
Rice will have her hands full correcting the international miscalculations of President Bush’s Condoleezza Rice. Currently on leave from the Brookings Institute, Dr. Susan Rice served President Clinton as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. She now serves as the Obama campaign’s senior foreign policy advisor.

Secretary of Veteran Affairs--John Murtha
The House already has a Democratic-margin safety net; therefore Obama can deftly move the Pennsylvania congressman into this important post. Like McCain, Murtha is a Vietnam War hero. Unlike McCain, three years ago Murtha called for a redeployment of American troops in Iraq. A Clinton supporter in the primary race, Murtha—along with Powell and Biden—would help the Obama administration consolidate support in military and veteran quarters.
more selections

The Pennsylvania Lowdown

the day before and we're swamped with what could be and where things stand.
obama has at least one thing in his favor and that is the approximate 325,000 people who are new democrats or have switched parties to vote. these people haven't been included in polling.
recent polls suggest hillary is gaining.
a new rasmussen poll puts her ahead by 5 percentage points, 49 to 44.
an insider advantage poll puts her ahead by 10 points, 49 to 39, with 12% still undecided. that's a lot of undecideds.
the poll that uses the largest sample of people, about 2,300, puts obama ahead by 3 points, 49 to 46. about 76% of the respondents were white, and the bulk of them were women, and most were in the age range of 35 -65. that's all good for obama.
but as polls go, they're not always reliable and as i stated at the start, there are hundreds of thousands unpolled.

terence samuel says obama will win by a sniggly point because of bob case and obama stands for change:

After all sound and fury, the race in Pennsylvania will come down to the strength of get- out-the-vote (GOTV) operations, and I think Obama's campaign's organizational advantages will be enough to push him past Clinton by almost two percentage points. He's got money, he's got energy and enthusiasm (despite his debate performance on Tuesday), and he's got Philadelphia and its suburbs

Broadly speaking, presidential elections are almost always decided by what and who Americans think best suits the moment. After all the wins and losses, after all the gaffes, the deceptions, and the rare moments of inspiration, Obama, is simply closer to the mood of the country than either Clinton or McCain.

Obama is selling change. Both of his opponents are selling the virtues of experience, but voters, fed up with the way things have been going, view experience as more of a problem than a solution.
.....

The importance of the Casey's endorsement of Obama is hard to overstate. In part that's because Pennsylvania's junior senator is as daring as a piece of Lackawanna anthracite coal and is seen as unwilling or unable to play cynical political games. What's more, he is an able counterbalance to Clinton's two biggest supporters -- the affably pugnacious Gov. Ed. Rendell, and Philadelphia's African American Mayor Michael Nutter.

Casey is also exactly kind of conservative, Catholic, blue-collar Democrat that Obama is supposed to have the most trouble attracting. He needs Casey's help all the more now that some of these voters think that he sees them as clinging to guns and religion out of a sense of economic frustration. In a new ad for Obama, Casey makes the election clearly about the economy, declaring on camera that "in towns like yours and mine, families are struggling with bills they can't afford and jobs moving away. It has to change -- but it won't until we change Washington."

clinton needs blowout numbers, but brace yourselves obama supporters, she may pull off a double digit win, which will give her more time to make us miserable:

bloomerg: After more than 40 Democratic primaries and caucuses, Obama, the Illinois senator, leads Clinton by more than 800,000 votes. Even if the New York senator wins by more than 20 percentage points tomorrow -- a landslide few experts expect -- she would still have a hard time catching him.

Clinton needs ``blowout numbers,'' says Peter Fenn, a Democratic consultant who isn't affiliated with either campaign. ``The wheels would have to come off the Obama bus, and the engine would have to blow.''

A popular-vote victory is vital to Clinton's chances because she is likely to end the primaries still trailing Obama, 46, in the race for delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

According to an unofficial tally by the Associated Press, Obama currently leads by a margin of 1,645 to 1,504 among pledged delegates and those superdelegates -- elected and party officials who get an automatic vote on the nomination -- who have indicated a preference. It will take 2,025 delegates to win the nomination.

One or the Other

``I am a big believer that she needs either one, the popular or the delegate count,'' in order to make a case for why she should be the nominee, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, a Clinton backer, said in an interview.

how about those superdelegates? some of them in pennsylvania are feeling sorry they went with clinton so early in the race. listen to that story at npr.

an overview in usa today
video from the philly inquirer on obama's final sunday.
obama goes door to door
obama has two times the cash, less debt than hillary

Hillary Spin

the spin now is that a five to seven point win would be a big victory for hillary. the hillary camp has been complaining that they're being outspent. perhaps they ought to gather more supporters.

seeing as pennsylvania is a must-win for her to stay in the race, a 5-7 win is meaningless, symbolically and delegately. now, if obama wins by 5-7 points--that's a big win. after all, hillary shot guns in the backyard of her no hot-water, outdoor-shower childhood cottage in scranton.

times tribune: Mrs. Clinton will also arrive facing doubts about whether she'll wrack up the kind of dominant victory in Pennsylvania she needs to dent Mr. Obama's substantial lead in delegates and convince superdelegates she's more electable. The latest delegate count by the Associated Press has Mr. Obama ahead by 138 delegates.

In an appearance Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Gov. Ed Rendell, Mrs. Clinton's top Pennsylvania backer, said a Clinton victory by four to seven percentage points would be "a huge and very significant victory" because Mr. Obama has so dramatically outspent Mrs. Clinton in television advertising here.

Mr. Rendell had earlier predicted a five to 10 point victory. That was when, he said, he didn't realize Mr. Obama would spend so lavishly.

Mr. Rendell said Mrs. Clinton's performance in the debate Wednesday dramatically improved her standing in the Gallup Poll's daily tracking poll "because Democrats across the nation saw her performance in that poll and were blown away."

"She showed leadership ability, command of the issues, good solutions, and those are the things I still think that could make this a big victory," Mr. Rendell said. "But, given that spending differential, it's not going to be easy."