Tuesday, April 22, 2008

HORSERACE

Why Is Obama Spending Tonight in Indiana?

I thought Barack Obama and his campaign have done an excellent job of raising expectations for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania; you're hearing a lot of "she has to win by double digits or she's in real trouble" buzz.

It's entirely possible he could spin losing by 9 percent or less as a moral victory. The polls are showing her ahead by a bit less; the RCP average is 6.1 percent.

But tonight, he'll give a victory/moral victory/concession speech from Evansville, Indiana. Why? Do they see bad news in the internal polling? If Hillary performs badly tonight, there will be enormous pressure on her to leave the race. Why not pull out every stop to persuade the superdelegates that losing by single digits in a mostly-white, elderly, union-heavy, Catholic-heavy state is enough of a win to declare this race over?

04/22 10:32 AM Share