Last updated on July 1st, 2012 at 05:12 am
Things are really heating up here in PA today. While Hillary Clinton was speaking about job creation in Pittsburgh, Barack Obama was in Philadelphia branding Clinton as the candidate of the special interests.
Yesterday, while speaking in Philadelphia, Clinton said, “Senator Obama says he’s getting tired of the campaign. His supporters say they want it to end.Could you imagine if Rocky Balboa had gotten half way up those Art Museum stairs and said, “Well, I guess that’s about far enough?” That’s not the way it works. Let me tell you something, when it comes to finishing the fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up. And I know that we are going to make it together – not just up those stairs, but we are going to climb that mountain to a better day for America.”
Obama swung back today with, “We all love Rocky, but Rocky was fiction. And so is the idea that someone can fight for working people and at the same time embrace the broken system in Washington, where corporate lobbyists use their clout to shape laws to their liking.”
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He contrasted himself as a candidate of the people. “I’m the only candidate in this race who’s actually worked to take power away from lobbyists by passing historic ethics reforms in Illinois and in the U.S. Senate. And I’m the only candidate who isn’t taking a dime from Washington lobbyists.”
We are still a tick under 3 weeks away from voting here, and already things are getting nasty between the two campaigns. Obviously Obama wants to win PA, but barring this, he would like nothing more than to deprive Clinton of a big win in the state. Any close delegate count benefits Obama. Plus, a close loss in the state will be viewed by many as a win for Obama, because everything from demographics on down suggests that this is a state that Clinton should run away with.
It will also be difficult for the Clinton campaign to argue that the momentum of the race has swung their way if they blow a big lead in the Keystone State. The trend of this campaign has been that Clinton builds big leads in states until Obama shows up. The more time the Obama campaign spends in a state the closer the race becomes.
I see no reason why this won’t continue in PA, but outside of Philadelphia, Clinton has too many built in advantages in this state to lose. However Obama doesn’t need a win, because unlike in boxing, in this case, a tie will go to the challenger.
