The one thing I don’t understand here is why change the rules, John? They’ve kept attention on the Democratic contest and highlighted why the primary schedule can produce a long primary. It seems to me that the latter part of that is the problem, not the rules themselves.

YOU KNOW she’s not going away.

You know the spin today, tomorrow, next week (bring on West Virginia!) will be about how she’s a fighter who never gives up (bring on Kentucky!).

So, despite Barack Obama’s big North Carolina win and much better-than-expected showing in Indiana, you know there’s more to come. Makes me crazy.  read more »

Keep in mind that Scaife’s paper didn’t even attempt to mask the fact that this accusation came from the House GOP press shop. So just how “serious” these allegations are is up to you. We report, you decide, and all that.

For most of the primary campaign, Gov. Ed Rendell acted as a “super staffer” for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, raising serious questions about his use of state resources for political purposes, a state House GOP spokesman says.  read more »

As usual, we’ve found a way to stop focusing on issues – you know, the things that affect peoples’ lives like the economy, war, etc – and are back to talking about process.

Forget the debate over the war in Iraq, the economy, or health-care plans. The candidates’ handlers and surrogates certainly have.

These days, the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton is mostly about electability, about who has the better chance to win in the fall.

And both sides have an argument to make – having to do with the electoral map, among other things – which hasn’t always been the case.  read more »

The “Rendell Factor” is 2-5 points? Really?? I’d have to guess that’s closer to the lower end. He probably helped keep down the Obama vote as much as anything else…

Ask pollsters or political analysts or Democratic Party leaders, and they all say Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s more than nine-percentage-point primary victory Tuesday would not have been possible without the support of Gov. Rendell – a politician extraordinaire and prodigious fund-raiser.

Depending on whom you talk to, Rendell’s omnipresence on the campaign trail, enormous popularity, and fine-tuned political machine are responsible for between two and five points of Clinton’s nearly double-digit win.  read more »

So, it’s Wednesday morning, Hillary won by a comfortable margin… now what? Her campaign is struggling for funds and nationally voters have decided her opponent is better. Where does she go from here?

“Some people counted me out and said to drop out, but the American people don’t quit, and they deserve a president who doesn’t quit either,” Clinton told cheering supporters last night at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue. “Because of you, the tide is turning.”  read more »

Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll accused two prominent Pittsburgh politicians of being sexist after they forgot to introduce her at a rally featuring Bill Clinton. Behind the scenes? Nope, right into the microphone!

“Excuse me! They never recognize the Lieutenant Governor. These two men can’t stand women!”

Listen to the full audio here.

John Micek of the Allentown Morning Call shares this from the streets of Philadelphia. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t think Obama’s bringing factory work back to PA…

At the corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets, we met up with Obama backer Arnetta Reddy, 62, a grandmother of six, and self-described veteran of the civil rights battles of the 1960s. When we happened upon her, she was shouting slogans through an Obama sign she’d rolled into a cone.

“You want your factories to open back up? You’d better vote right the first time,” she shouted. “Vote for someone who’s been a perfect gentleman.”

She broke away long enough to tell us that she knows Obama’s in for an uphill fight today.  read more »

So here’s my question – is this an actual shift in strategy for Hillary or is the media just covering her more fairly at the 11th hour? Eh, probably a bit of both.

Joined by her husband and daughter, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wrapped up her final Pennsylvania campaign push last night at a passionate rally at the packed and sweltering Palestra.

“This has been an extraordinary campaign, and it has been for all the right reasons,” Clinton told the audience of about 7,000 supporters, who frequently drowned her out by stomping on the old bleachers of the University of Pennsylvania’s arena.  read more »