National Constitution Center, Philadelphia -

I’m here at the National Constitution Center in downtown Philly where Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are about to take the stage and debate for the first time in 50 days.

Both have a lot riding on tonight’s debate. Hillary Clinton must prove that she can continue to run a strong campaign,despite polling data showing her lead slipping in PA (her last stronghold) and national numbers showing her popularity weakening.

But she can definitely still win Pennsylvania on Tuesday, along with its 188 delegates at stake. By pulling in large swaths of the state, she would demonstrate her ability to win PA in a general election (a traditional swing state).

Barack Obama would also need to do well tonight. He must (and will be expected to) address his recent comments on “bitter” voters who “cling” to guns and religion. He must also address his ability, in a larger sense, to bring in white working-class voters in the general election to the Democratic Party.

Here they go…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 16th, 2008 at 8:03 pm and is filed under Pennsylvania Primary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.