tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25 2008-09-30T22:42:32Z Movable Type 3.31 tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.433 2008-09-30T22:31:02Z 2008-09-30T22:42:32Z

Excerpt from the Harrisburg Patriot News by BILL FENSTERMAKER We should vote based on Christ Sunday, September 28, 2008 ... I put a political bumper sticker on my car, primarily to stimulate discussion, especially among my Christian friends. In all...

Chris McNally Excerpt from the Harrisburg Patriot News by BILL FENSTERMAKER We should vote based on Christ Sunday, September 28, 2008 ... I put a political bumper sticker on my car, primarily to stimulate discussion, especially among my Christian friends. In all my life I've never had a political sticker on my car. And for most of my first 50 years I was a staunchly conservative, right-wing Republican -- a supporter of every Republican all the way back to Barry Goldwater. And for most of those years I had never felt any conflict between those positions and my equally firm grounding as a born-again evangelical Christian. That is no longer the case. Rather than stimulating discussion, the effect of my sticker seems to have been the opposite: A lot of my Christian friends seem to have simply stopped talking to me.... I would urge anyone who calls himself a Christian to take some time, take a few steps back from all the campaign-season hype, and critically examine our nation and our world from a truly Biblical Christian perspective. First, I am questioning when and how we as evangelicals allowed a few individuals to establish two (sometimes three) criteria for determining what constitutes an acceptable candidate for public office. Jesus never said a single word about abortion or homosexuality or evolution. Jesus did have a lot to say about things like divorce, about loving your neighbor, about loving your enemies and about taking care of those less fortunate. In fact, in Matthew 25, starting at verse 31 --just before he entered Jerusalem to die -- the only time Jesus ever talked about the final judgment he said that "all nations" will stand before the Lord, and He will separate them into the sheep and the goats, based upon their behavior on the earth. The goats are condemned to hell as a result.... Using the criteria from Christ himself, do you believe America will be rewarded, for example, for how many countries we have converted to democracy? Or for how many immigrants we have deported? Or how many more of the huddled masses we have prevented from emigrating? Or for how many millions of children have starved to death worldwide while we burn huge amounts of our precious corn harvest every day in our car's fuel tanks? Will the Lord say to America, "Well done, my faithful servant," because of the tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees who have fled their homes due to the unrest we have created in their homeland? Or for how many innocent Iraqi civilians we have killed or caused to die for the cause of spreading democracy? Or for how many enemy combatants we have locked up? Or how many we have been able to torture into giving us information? Or for how many terror attacks we have prevented? Or how many "insurgents" we have killed? Or the billions of dollars that the wealthiest nation on earth has NOT been able to contribute to worldwide disaster relief and famine relief because we have been spending so much on our own so-called defense? I personally believe these are nothing short of national sins. And these are only examples.... As Christians, if all we use as our criteria are the words of Jesus himself --and honestly, isn't that all we should use? -- America has not been behaving in a Christ-like manner. In truth, much of our nation's foreign and domestic policy in recent years has been decidedly non-Christian. How have we allowed this to happen? ... The Christian's responsibility is to be diligent in scrutinizing both [parties], in the cold light of the New Testament and the teachings of Christ. This we have not been doing in recent years, and it's time we start. We can't keep giving any political party a "free pass" to commit all sorts of atrocities, both at home and around the world, just because they happen to share our view on one or two so-called "moral" issues. This is simply wrong.... As we approach the election, I am still making up my mind about whom to vote for. But I can tell you this: My decision is NOT going to be based upon the recommendations of pharisees like Jim Dobson, or kooks like Rush Limbaugh, or the MSNBC or Fox News commentators. None of these people speaks for Jesus. NONE of them. My guide is going to be how close each candidate and each platform comes to the words of Christ himself in places such as Matthew 5, Matthew 22, Matthew 25, Luke 6, Luke 10 and Mark 12. tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.422 2008-09-22T23:15:11Z 2008-09-22T23:19:10Z

Catholic vote key; both sides want it Democratic effort may be better set up Sunday, September 14, 2008 By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Said Senator Bob Casey, "I do think nationally, our party has made a lot of progress, certainly...

Catholic Democrats Staff full article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.405 2008-09-03T00:56:37Z 2008-10-03T16:25:16Z

Since John McCain wants to suspend the gasoline tax to reduce the price of a gallon of gas, why doesn't he ask his running mate to cut the exorbitant oil and gas severance tax that Alaska charges the rest of...

Chris McNally Consolidated Annual Financial Report for the State of Alaska, Schedule B-2. The reason that Alaska has no sales tax and no income tax is that it charges an oil and gas severance tax that is passed on to consumers in the other 49 states. We pay that oil and gas tax at the pump and in our monthly gas bill, and the taxes that we pay to Alaska are enough to supply 89% of Alaska's Unrestricted General Revenue! The Federal Government is Alaska's second largest revenue source. So you and our neighbors in the lower 48 are paying about 89% of Sarah Palin’s salary! In fact, Alaskans are rolling in our dough. The Alaskan State Government owns a corporation called the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation with a market value of over $35.9 billion. This government-owned, government-operated corporation pays each Alaskan a dividend check every year. Last year, every Alaskan who has resided in the state for one year and who meets other eligibility requirements (including Sarah, Todd, and each of the four Palin children) got $1,654! Even legal aliens get the dividend check! And you, the American consumer of Alaskan oil, paid for it. Does the Governor of Alaska really face the same challenges, choices and problems that governors of other states must confront? Imagine how easy it would be to be governor knowing that you can charge an exorbitant tax, that the people who must pay the tax can't vote you out of office, and they aren't even told that it is included in their bill? And isn't it easy to understand why Sarah Palin is eager to drill in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and build a natural gas pipeline? Is Sarah Palin a reformer? You decide.]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.404 2008-09-03T00:40:16Z 2008-09-03T00:53:40Z

Written by correspondent Niall O'Dowd, and first published in Irish America magazine, and republished in The Irish Voice, we share the following account of Senator Joseph Biden's roots in Scranton. Many thanks to Sarah McAuliffe Bellin, President of the Irish...

Chris McNally Written by correspondent Niall O'Dowd, and first published in Irish America magazine, and republished in The Irish Voice, we share the following account of Senator Joseph Biden's roots in Scranton. Many thanks to Sarah McAuliffe Bellin, President of the Irish American Unity Conference of Pittsburgh, for retrieving this marvelous sketch of a great Irish American leader. *** Biden hails from a Famine era family, the Finnegans, who fled Co. Mayo to avoid the Great Hunger. His great grandmother Finnegan was the only one who could read Gaelic, and she used to read letters in Gaelic for those who could not read the letters from home and she’s write back in Gaelic for them. *** Biden was born in the Irish heartland of Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of the most Irish cities in America. There were already political genes in his DNA. “Edward F. Blewett my grandmother’s father, was the first Irish Catholic state senator,” Biden recalled. “He was also the co-founder of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Scranton around 1908. There is still a plaque in existence in Scranton showing he was one of the founding members.” Biden stated that he grew up in Scranton in “a predominantly Irish neighborhood and an overwhelmingly Irish parish. The centerpiece of life in Scranton was the church, the nuns, the priest the monsignor,” he recalled. “Everybody had a sister who was a nun everybody had a brother a priest. Vocations were a big deal.” His first Irish memories are of his Aunt Gertie when he went to his grandparents’ house. “I’d go upstairs and lie on the bed and she’d come and scratch my back and say, ‘Now you remember Joey about the Black and Tans don’t you?’ She had never seen the Black and Tans, she had no notion of them, but she could recite chapter and verse about them. “Obviously there were immigrants coming in who were able to talk about it and who had relatives back there, She was born in 1887. After she’d finish telling the stories I’d sit there or lie in bed and think at the slightest noise, ‘They’re coming up the stairs.’” *** Biden has read Irish history extensively, and to this day his hero is Wolfe Tone leader of the 1798 Rebellion. “Wolfe Tone is the embodiment of some of the things that I think are the noblest of all. He was a Protestant who formed the United Irishmen. He had nothing to gain on the face of it but he sought to relieve the oppression of the Catholics caused by the penal laws. He gave his life for the principle of civil rights for all people. “I view him as an honorable figure. He was obviously passionate which I admire. He had the ability to make his own comfort secondary to the greater good.” Biden found that when he moved to Delaware that the experience of the Irish there was very different to what he left behind in Scranton. “That is because they came over differently. The Dupont Company were sending ships back to Ireland and bringing back workers so the first people who did come did not do so as part of a famine. They were paternalistic, built their church for them. It was a different experience,” Biden said. The new Democratic vice presidential nominee stated, “I see myself as an Irish Catholic. If we have a moral obligation to other parts of the world why don’t we have a moral obligation to Ireland? It’s part of our blood.” tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.401 2008-08-27T12:50:00Z 2008-08-27T12:55:14Z

DENVER -- A generation after his father was barred from the podium of the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bob Casey Jr. invoked his name as he depicted Sen. Barack Obama as a force for tolerance on an issue that continues...

Chris McNally DENVER -- A generation after his father was barred from the podium of the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bob Casey Jr. invoked his name as he depicted Sen. Barack Obama as a force for tolerance on an issue that continues to divide Democrats. "I'm honored to stand before you as Gov. Bob Casey's son," the senator said as he took the stage of the Pepsi Center. Later, he urged the delegates to rally to the candidate he had endorsed before the Pennsylvania primary, calling him, "a leader who, as Lincoln said, appeals to 'the better angels of our nature.' " "Barack Obama and I have an honest disagreement on the issue of abortion," said the lawmaker, who is an abortion foe. "But the fact that I'm speaking here tonight is a testament to Barack's ability to show respect for the views of people who disagree with him." * * * In a more modest way, it was Pennsylvania day, as Mr. Casey and Gov. Ed Rendell, who took opposite sides in the state's presidential primary, each spoke in favor of the Obama candidacy. Inside and outside the hall, they offered contrasting portrayals of the bonds of empathy Mr. Obama had managed to form with voters. Mr. Casey described the bus trip he and Mr. Obama shared through the state after his unexpected endorsement of his Senate colleague, saying, "Everywhere Barack went, people who may have been asking who this guy was ended up seeing what I saw. ... Everywhere we went the people of Pennsylvania gave him the highest praise they give anyone: He's one of us too." * * * Suggesting that the Democratic candidate was sometimes handicapped by his own strengths, [Governor] Rendell added, "With people who have a lot of gifts, it's hard for people to identify with them. Barack Obama is handsome. He's incredibly bright. He's incredibly well-spoken, and he's incredibly successful -- not exactly the easiest guy in the world to identify with." Mr. Rendell was more on-message at the Pepsi Center microphone as he extolled Mr. Obama as a champion of energy independence and argued that his opponent would repeat what he characterized as the disappointments of the Bush administration. "It's clear the only thing green in John McCain's energy plan are the billions of dollars in tax breaks he's promised to energy companies," he said to an audience that had greeted him with chants of "Eddie, Eddie." Later in his speech, Mr. Casey drew the crowd into his speech as he predicted an end to Republican rule in Washington. "They ran up the debt, gave huge subsidies to big oil companies, and now they're asking for four more years. How about four more months?" he demanded. The delegates took up the refrain, "Four more months," as he continued to assail the GOP record on health care, senior citizens programs, and the children's health insurance that his father had pioneered at the state level. The previous day, sitting in a Starbucks not far from the convention site, Mr. Casey reflected on his father's less welcome reception and the changes in the party on the issue on which the late governor had so strenuously opposed former President Bill Clinton. The senator acknowledged that the precise details of why the elder Casey was barred from that New York City podium in 1992 are still in some dispute. In his memoirs, the late governor said it was a deliberate insult motivated by his opposition to abortion rights. Other reports have attributed it to his failure to endorse the Clinton-Gore ticket prior to the convention. "I think it's best to let the historians debate it and move on and look to the future," his son said. "It's interesting, even in the last six months, I've heard facts that I didn't know before. ... I think it was, apart from what happened to him and the insult, a missed opportunity to listen to a guy who really understood how people struggle." Mr. Casey lauded his party's move toward a big tent approach on the issue but noted that the shift should not be exaggerated. "I think the party has changed in the sense that, one of the first things John Kerry said after the '04 race was we've got to reach out more to pro-life Democrats. Hillary Clinton said that a lot and talked about that when she was campaigning." When asked about the relative lack of intra-party unrest over the fact that Mr. Obama was reported to have at least considered several anti-abortion Democrats as running mates, however, Mr. Casey said, "Let's be candid. I don't think we're at the point where our party could nominate someone who is pro-life ... maybe even at the vice presidential level." tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.434 2008-08-24T15:33:21Z 2008-10-03T16:26:47Z

Lt Governor Catherine Baker Knoll announced that she has a neuroendocrine tumor that is under treatment, but that she plans to keep working this fall on behalf of the people of the state. In McKees Rocks, where she still attends...

Catholic Democrats Staff Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll Reveals Cancer Fight, Says She' Responding Well To Treatment ]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.386 2008-08-08T17:40:39Z 2008-08-08T17:43:52Z

Senator Bob Casey is likely to be a speaker at the Democratic National Convention late this month in Denver, and much of the conversation swirling about his high profile concerns abortion. But in contrast to the conventional wisdom, he thinks...

Catholic Democrats Staff full story in the Philadelphia Inquirer ]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.378 2008-07-24T19:11:43Z 2008-07-24T19:15:24Z

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, fresh off its success in organizing a meeting for 800 Catholics in Philadelphia July 11-13, has begun a series of events across the country to begin a national conversation on the full range...

Catholic Democrats Staff the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.282 2008-04-25T18:54:09Z 2008-04-25T18:55:22Z

Perhaps it was inevitable: The Democrats' battle for the presidential nomination has led us into the thicket of race and religion. Hillary Clinton's significant victory over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary was the result of many factors, but most...

Catholic Democrats Staff Pennsylvania Fault Lines By E. J. Dionne Jr. Washington Post Friday, April 25, 2008; A23]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.279 2008-04-19T15:20:44Z 2008-04-19T15:41:26Z

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The official motto of Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 visit to the United States, the first of his papacy, is "Christ our Hope." Based on the frequency with which papal spokespersons have struck a different note,...

Catholic Democrats Staff Behind the Scenes: Watch for political fallout from pope's visitStory Highlights Papal representatives stress Benedict's U.S. trip is "not a political event" But Catholic vote still matters in U.S. politics, as 2004's close Ohio vote showed Obama's "guns and religion" gaffe may help Clinton with blue-collar Catholics Once Democrats settle on a candidate, Catholic vote seems wide open in November By John L. Allen Jr. CNN Senior Vatican Analyst Editor's Note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. CNN's Senior Vatican Analyst John L. Allen Jr. is following the pope during his U.S. trip. ]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.254 2008-04-03T15:52:36Z 2008-04-03T15:59:22Z

Senator Bob Casey told the crowd at Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum in Oakland PA that he came to his decision because, "This campaign is a chance for America to chart a new course, to go down a different path,...

Catholic Democrats Staff link to full story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.230 2008-03-15T22:04:11Z 2008-03-15T22:10:02Z

Sen. Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl today (Friday, March 14). The 27-year-old mayor announced his support for the New York senator during a "Solutions for America" rally at the Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum...

Catholic Democrats Staff Sen. Hillary Clinton picked up the endorsement of Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl today (Friday, March 14). The 27-year-old mayor announced his support for the New York senator during a "Solutions for America" rally at the Soldiers & Sailors Military Museum & Memorial here. Clinton has already been endorsed by Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and currently leads by double digits in recent polls of likely voters in the Keystone State. The Clinton campaign is depending on a victory in Pennsylvania to help it stay in the race after suffering a string of losses in February. Clinton picked up much-needed victories in Texas and Ohio on March 4 but still lags behind Sen. Barack Obama in the race for delegates. Earlier today Clinton stopped at the Curran Golf Gas Station to lay out her plan for bringing down gas prices and coming up with alternative energy. She spoke to reporters, gas station owner Jay Curran and local families affected by record $3.32 a gallon gas prices. Clinton proposed a $50 billion strategic energy fund, putting 2,000 hybrid school buses on the road and giving Detroit auto makers aide to come up with more fuel-efficient vehicles. She called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate market manipulation of wholesale oil markets. In between talking policy, Clinton also took the opportunity to knock the Bush Administration and her opponents’ records. “I gotta tell you, I will not be a president who holds hands with the Saudis, I will hold the Saudis accountable,” Clinton said. “I think it’s time we kicked the oil men out of the White House. Unfortunately, despite a lot of talk about clean energy, Sen. Obama voted for Dick Cheney’s budget-busting tax breaks for big oil. And Sen. McCain opposes eliminating them.” The Obama campaign quickly fired back. “Sen. Clinton’s taken thousands of dollars from oil lobbyists in this campaign, so she should know that we’re not going to kick the oil men out of the White House by taking their money to get in,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. Amy Chozick reports on the presidential race from Pittsburgh for the Wall Street Journal March 14, 2008, 6:25 pm tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.217 2008-03-10T20:50:55Z 2008-03-10T20:54:00Z

One key to Senator Obama's chances of defeating Senator Clinton in the crucial Pennsylvania primary next month will be his courtship of Catholic voters, a sizable bloc that has loyally supported the former first lady throughout the primary season. Catholics...

Catholic Democrats Staff Catholic Voters Viewed as Key in Pennsylvania By Howard Berman March 10, 2008 Copyright 2008, New York Sun]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.209 2008-03-07T05:01:56Z 2008-03-07T05:08:06Z

From the POLITICO Blog by David Mark March 1, 2008 A final big-state showdown is scheduled for April 22 in Pennsylvania--a state that is just under one-third Catholic. "The Catholic vote is absolutely critical in some of the major markets...

Catholic Democrats Staff Blog by David Mark March 1, 2008 A final big-state showdown is scheduled for April 22 in Pennsylvania--a state that is just under one-third Catholic. "The Catholic vote is absolutely critical in some of the major markets like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In Pittsburgh it can be as much as 50 percent of the [primary] vote," said Jon Delano, adjunct professor of Public Policy and Politics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "The question is how much does the religious part play in how they cast their ballot." Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), who represents one of the most heavily Catholic metropolitan areas in the nation, said the Catholic vote in his Pittsburgh-based district is still very much up for grabs but Clinton has to be considered the front-runner. "She's the person to beat in Pennsylvania. President Clinton is very popular in our neck of the woods," Doyle said. "This is Hillary's race to lose." Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), another Pittsburgh-area congressman, said Catholic voters in his district "are a very sizable voting bloc. But it’s still fluid – and they haven’t really started to campaign here." Doyle, Altmire and Rep. John Murtha, the other Democrat who represents western Pennsylvania--all Catholics--have not endorsed a candidate for the nomination. Despite Obama's struggles to gain traction among Catholics, Douglas Kmiec, a Pepperdine University law professor and the former dean of the Catholic University School of Law, insists that in a general election matchup with John McCain, Obama would prove popular with Catholic voters. "Senator Obama has captured better than any of the other candidates a concern that religion has been used as a wedge issue – that there has been a deliberate effort on the part of conservatives to basically try and gain political advantage by pointing out how much Democrats disrespect religion," said Kmiec, who served as a legal adviser to Republican Mitt Romney. "On the other side, Democrats have been too quick to disregard the significance of faith in people’s lives – that they have been too quick to embrace wholesale secularism."]]> tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2008:/PA//25.207 2008-03-07T04:14:51Z 2008-03-07T04:38:09Z

In Ohio, where Catholics account for 20% of voters, Senator Clinton won white Catholic voters by 31 points. In Pennsylvania, white Catholics could be closer to a third of the vote. If she were to match her Ohio performance in...

Catholic Democrats Staff For Obama, an uphill battle in Pennsylvania By Dan Balz 6 March 2008 Pennsylvania's April 22 primary stands as the next big battleground in the Democratic presidential race and Barack Obama has no good options. He can stand and fight, and probably lose, or try to downplay the contest, and lose by an even bigger margin. In terms of demographics, Pennsylvania is Ohio squared. Everything that worked for Hillary Clinton in Ohio is there in Pennsylvania in greater numbers. The Post ran a chart in Thursday's editions comparing the Democratic electorates in the two states. Obama's campaign should tape it on every office wall in their North Michigan Avenue headquarters in Chicago as a reminder of the steep hill they have to climb. Look at some of the comparisons: The black-white mix is roughly similar, meaning Obama will not have a significantly larger African American population to tap. The male-female mix is also roughly similar, with women accounting for nearly 60 percent of the electorate, meaning Clinton will have her solid base upon which to build. But look, too, at some differences. There are fewer young people and more old people in Pennsylvania than in Ohio, which is good for Clinton and bad for Obama. In Ohio, 44 percent of the Democratic electorate was under age 45 and Obama carried them by 54 percent to 45 percent. In Pennsylvania those voters may represent only a quarter of the electorate. In Ohio, voters over age 65 comprised 14 percent of the electorate and Clinton carried them 72 percent to 26 percent. In Pennsylvania, they may account for a quarter of the Democratic vote. There are fewer college graduates and more non-college graduates in Pennsylvania than in Ohio, both among the population at large and among white voters. That, too, spells trouble for Obama. The differences are not hugely significant, but even a slightly less educated electorate plays to Clinton's favor. Again, look at what happened in Ohio. Among white, non-college educated voters, who accounted for almost half the electorate, Clinton beat Obama by 44 percentage points -- 71 percent to 27 percent. Among white, college graduates, who were just 29 percent of the electorate, she won, but by just 7 points. Clinton has generally done well with Roman Catholics. In Ohio, she won white Catholic voters by 31 points. There they accounted for a fifth of the electorate. In Pennsylvania, white Catholics could be closer to a third of the vote. If she were to match her Ohio performance in Pennsylvania, white Catholics alone would give her 20 percent of the overall vote. So the deck is stacked in Pennsylvania. A Clinton victory there will intensify a debate among Democrats about whether Obama has a "big state" problem. In states with more than 100 pledged delegates, Clinton has won California, New York, Texas, Ohio and New Jersey. Obama has won Illinois and will be favored in the May primary in North Carolina. Clinton also claims victories in the disputed states of Michigan and Florida. That's an unfair claim because both states were sanctioned by the Democratic Party and stripped of their convention seats. Both may be headed for do-over contests later this spring. With Obama continuing to hold a lead in pledged delegates, Clinton will point to her success in big-state primaries as she tries to woo superdelegates to support her candidacy. It is a justifiable argument. When matched head to head in states with big and diverse electorates, Clinton has consistently defeated Obama. Her advisers argue that shows she will be a stronger general election candidate in some of the major battlegrounds in the fall. Pennsylvania may well add to that record. What are Obama's counter claims? One is that many of those big states will vote Democratic no matter which candidate is the nominee. California, New York, Illinois and probably New Jersey fit that category. Clinton will point to Ohio and Pennsylvania as evidence of her ability to win critical battlegrounds, but Obama will counter that his victories key Midwest states that have been competitive in recent elections -- Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota -- show that he's best positioned to compete in key swing states. Another Obama counter is that he will have a far easier time winning over her voters than she will have winning over his voters. The logic here is that her base of traditional Democrats are hungry to recapture the White House not likely to back John McCain in the fall, but Obama's constituency will be less transferable. Independent voters may be more reluctant to back Clinton, his younger voters may have less enthusiasm for Clinton and his African American voters may feel cheated if he is not the nominee. Obama also will argue that he has more ability to expand the electoral map. He will point to success in Virginia and North Carolina -- if he wins there -- as partial evidence, and he will highlight his endorsements from prominent red-state politicians -- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius among them -- as proof that they see him as a far better nominee in their parts of the country. Clinton will note that she won Arizona on Super Tuesday as well as Arkansas and Tennessee. Clinton and Obama remain remarkably evenly matched. Neither has shown an ability to consistently peel away the others' voters. Obama could close down the race by defeating Clinton in Pennsylvania and will have seven weeks to make his case to the voters there. But it will be a hard sell, given the landscape and Clinton's support from Gov. Edward Rendell. Which is why the race is could go on well beyond the Keystone state. ]]>