Pennsylvania could deliver death blow to Clinton campaign
I keep hearing that Republicans in Pennsylvania are planning to change their party registration so they can vote against Hillary Clinton. Circle April 22 on your calendar. That could be the day the Clinton political dynasty comes to an end.
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
That's the sound Hillary Clinton hears as she counts down the days waiting for her presidential bid to implode.
No presidential candidate in modern U.S. history has had more going for her than Hillary Clinton. She built an enormous campaign was chest. She had name recognition and the political astuteness of hubby Bill Clinton. The Democratic Party establishment was solidly behind her. The mainstream news media loved her.
Hillary Clinton has been running for president since the day the Clintons left the White House in January 2001. The 2008 Democratic Party nomination was a foregone conclusion. This was to be a coronation for Hillary Clinton. It's just that somebody forgot to the tell the voters.
Clinton's doomed quest for the White House will be studied in political science classes for decades.
With Tuesday's devastating losses to Sen. Barack Obama in the Potomac Primaries (Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia), Clinton has lost to Obama in 20 state primary or caucus elections since Feb. 5. Her delegate lead is gone. She's running out of money. She fired her campaign manager. It's no longer a political campaign. It's a funeral wake. It's not just the number of states rejecting Clinton. Obama is now beating Clinton a 2-to-1 margin in most contests.
Dick Morris, the former Clinton political adviser who has written entire books about how Hillary Clinton couldn't lose the 2008 presidential race, is now saying that Mrs. Clinton is toast. "Hillary Clinton has blown an almost sure shot at the Democratic presidential nomination. Having surrendered the lead to Obama, she is not likely ever to regain it," Morris says.
Wisconsin votes Feb. 19, followed on March 5 by Texas and Ohio, which are being billed as Hillary Clinton's "firewall."
Pennsylvania on April 22 is the last big state left on the Democratic Party election calendar. If Clinton loses either Texas or Ohio, Pennsylvania could end up driving the final nail in Hillary Clinton's political coffin. Even if she wins both Texas and Ohio, Sen. Obama could take the race to the floor of the Democratic convention by winning the delegate-rich Pennsylvania contest.
That would put super delegates like Gov. Ed Rendell in a real tight spot. Rendell has already endorsed Clinton, but what will he do if his state goes for Obama? Will he go against the will of the people or will he jump off the Clinton bandwagon, like so many established Democrats are doing on a daily basis?
Morris thinks the party elite like Rendell will run screaming from the wreckage of Clinton's failed campaign.
"The super-delegates will not be enough to reverse Obama's primary and caucus victories and they will run for cover and join the Obama bandwagon anyway," Morris says.
A year ago, even a few months ago, nobody could have predicted the Keystone State would play a significant role in the presidential race. Gov. Rendell pushed hard last year to have the state primary moved up, but the state Legislature wouldn’t budge.
The races were supposed to have been decided by Super Tuesday, when voters in 24 states cast ballots. It happened on the Republican side when Sen. John McCain emerged with a commanding lead in delegates, forcing his chief rival, Mitt Romney, out of the race.
But the Democratic race has not been following the script political insiders wrote for it. Clinton is in Texas, where she plans to make a last stand against the surging Obama. But you get the feeling we're about to re-enact the Alamo. And we all know how well that turned out for the people inside the Alamo.
A sweep of Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania is the only way Clinton can salvage the race. That scenario is unlikely. And even then, the loss of Clinton's invincibility armor will have those super delegates wondering if Clinton is electable in the November race against a maverick Republican who appeals to independents and Democrats.
I keep hearing that Republicans in Pennsylvania are planning to change their party registration so they can vote against Hillary Clinton. Circle April 22 on your calendar. That could be the day the Clinton political dynasty comes to an end.
Tony Phyrillas is a leading conservative political columnist and blogger based in Pennsylvania. He is a veteran journalist with 25 years experience as a reporter, editor and columnist for several newspapers. Phyrillas received recognition for column writing in 2010 from the Associated Press Managing Editors, in 2007 from Suburban Newspapers of America and in 2006 from the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter. A graduate of Penn State University, Phyrillas is the city editor and political columnist for The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa. In addition to The Mercury website (www.pottsmerc.com), his columns are featured on more than a dozen political websites and blogs. Phyrillas is a frequent guest (and occasional host) on talk radio and has been a panelist on the "Journalists Roundtable" public affairs TV program on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). Phyrillas was named one of the '10 Leading Greek-American Bloggers in the World' in 2007 by Odyssey: The World of Greece magazine. BlogNetNews.com ranked Phyrillas the Most Influential Political Blogger in Pennsylvania for three consecutive years (2007-2010). You can follow Phyrillas on Twitter @TonyPhyrillas
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