In the PA Race it is the Margin of Victory that Matters

Many political analysts predict that Senator Clinton will win the state of Pennsylvania. However, winning the state may not be a political victory. If Clinton fails to have a large margin of victory (by at least 10 points), it may be time for her to throw in the towel in this dragged out Democratic Primary. The 300 uncommitted superdelegates will break down this primary with a fine tooth comb. Pennsylvania is Clinton's demographic main turf. Failure to take this state by a large margin would show her loss of momentum with the lower-income Democrats who supported her in earlier elections. Clinton does not see the importance of Margin of Victory. "A win is a win," to her, but is this really just another one of her attempts to hold onto a race already lost?

I cannot wait and see what happens today. With PA looking for a record turnout in voters, it will be interesting to see who those that do not usually vote choose. For the Democratic party, I hope that this primary leaves them with some kind of direction. If we move into May and June with no clear Democratic candidate, there could be dire consequences for the party. In my opinion (although it might be biased as an Obama supporter), feels like it would be better for the party as a whole if Clinton did not gain a large margin of victory in PA or if Obama won PA. Then, the Democratic party could finally move forward, unite the party, and try to regain the White House in November.

Cafferty: Should Clinton quit if she doesn't win Pennsylvania by at least 10 points?
LAT: What to look for in the Pennsylvania primary
LAT: Clinton says margin won't matter

Democratic Unity

The past couple of weeks, my blogs have focused on the current situation of the Democratic Party. I have strongly emphasized that there is a lack of unity in the party and looked at whether this will hurt the Democrats in the general election. Before the primaries, it seemed like the Democrats had the election in the bag. Now, the lack of unity amongst the party has drawn concern on whether or not the Democratic Nominee will win the election in November. As a citizen who would like to see the Democrats regain the Oval Office, I have grown more and more concerned about the current state of the party.

I was very intrigued when I came across an article today entitled "Bringing the Democrats together." NBC News Producer Ken Strickland addressed and validated a lot of my concerns. I became more worrisome when I discovered that Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania shares my opinion that the unity issue is bigger than many people realize. He answers my question from last week believing that carrying out the nomination process is going to make it harder to unify the party for the general election. Casey believes that the only way the democrats can win in November is for Obama and Clinton to achieve "real unity, not just consensus." He further goes on to say, "It's one thing for Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton to work together [on] principles, but it's much harder to get your workers, your supporters to really work together and not just go through the motions. If we just have the veneer of unity and people going through the motions, John McCain wins." Do you agree with Casey's thoughts? Do you think it will be possible for the Democrats to achieve real unity?

Lastly, Strickland made me look at this whole thing from a different perspective. He questions "who's going to help heal the wounds of the party when the nominee is finally selected." I took that even further and am now trying to answer, which candidate, Obama or Clinton, will have the ability to reunite the party in time for the November election.

The Democratic Circus

With McCain having the Republican nomination in the bag, it looks as if the Democratic circus is back in action. It opened earlier January with a competitive jousting match. Each side took jabs at the other and even former President Bill Clinton joined in on the fun. The Clinton campaign ran commercials against Senator Obama and Obama gave Senator Clinton the cold shoulder at the State of the Union Address. The debate in South Carolina was just a joke. The two candidates battles to the finish and the Democratic party was divided. It appeared as if everything had changed as January ended and February began. The Obama and Clinton worked together to unite the Democratic Party heading into Super Tuesday. They were like the jugglers staying in sync with one another at the debate in Los Angeles. The message sent out was that it's the Republicans we must be weary of.

However, as the campaign has turned the corner with the finish line in sight, Obama has gained a momentum that the Clinton campaign cannot seem to slow. Ladies and Gentleman, the clown car has arrived. As 20 or more clowns hop out of a tiny VW bug, the Democratic Primary is becoming a joke. Obama is trying to continue his momentum by doing what he does best, public speaking. The Clinton campaign is attempting to slow him down by finding the faults in his speeches and announcing it to the public. Was it right for Obama to borrow words from a friend's speech when the "share ideas"? That is for you to decide. Did the Clinton Campaign make the right move accusing Obama of plagiarism? That is for you to decide too. All that is for certain is that it has become easy to make a mockery of what is happening in the Democratic Primaries. The candidates better get it together and not divide their constituents if they want a Democrat in office come January.