It’s up to you, Pennsylvania. Go, Hillary, Go!

Today’s the big day. Positive thots go out to Hillary and our friends in H-burg: Maya, Brian, Will, Peggy and Jeff, Melissa, Phyllis, Khalil, Katrina, Lee and all of the other staff and volunteers. You guys worked really hard and I know it will pay off.  It’s bright and sunny in NJ, a beautiful spring day.  I’m guessing it’s pretty much the same in many parts of PA.  That should lead to a nice turnout.

Hillary, you were fantastic on Countdown last night. Keith is probably reflecting on how sordid his career has become since he sacrificed his integrity for the money chase. There is much consternation among the Conflucians as to why this is even a contest. There’s no one on either side that approaches your professionalism, preparation or grace under fire.

And now I’d like to discuss something that polite people usually don’t like to mention: Money. The reason this race tightened is because Obama spent wads of cash. Unlike SuperTuesday, however, all of it was spent in one place instead of spread around. He greatly outspent Clinton in TV advertising. I talked to a volunteer who got DVD’s and posters mailed to her from Obama’s campaign. He spared no expense. Ed Rendell says it cost her some much needed points. It’s a perception problem. How is it that the expectations for this primary are set so high for her? Under normal circumstances, winning PA by any amount would be a victory. But this year, the winner of the biggest and swing states is going to be the subject of a screaming frenzy if she doesn’t win by 20 points. It’s ridiculous. It’s also part of their plan. Remember this little bit from Matt Yglesias:

I think if voters better-understood the situation, they’d be much more inclined to vote for their second-favorite Democrat in the race, much less eager to do volunteer work for Clinton, much less inclined to donate money to her campaign, etc. But people won’t understand the dynamic unless it’s explained to them by credible party leaders.

The whole purpose of the anti-Hillary haka was to make it harder for her to raise money and recruit volunteers, for our own good, of course. And now the bar is being raised so high that any win short of a landslide is going to look like a loss, which should dry up fundraising even further going into the last primaries.

So, I’m asking you to take a pledge with me: For every point she wins over Obama in PA, I am going to donate $20. I know it’s not a lot but if you join me, we can keep her campaign going until the end. If not, the gap is going to continue to close with each successive primary, she’ll fall short of landslide wins and Obama will have bought the election even if he didn’t win a single large Democratic state outside of Illinois. Those are the cold hard facts. We will be left with a nominee who can’t close the deal but who can push the other candidate out because he has a lot of noisy, wealthy friends.

If you want to get a head start on the poll numbers, you can contribute here.

One other thing: I’ll be in training again today. It’s going to be pure torture but I’ll try to catch up during breaks. I don’t think I’ll be able to post but maybe I can get some feedback from my mom as to how the polls are going.