STATE COLLEGE, Penn.—Hillary Clinton, speaking on the Penn State campus here on Sunday night, once again sought to exploit Barack Obama's declaration that John McCain would make a better president than George W Bush.

She was met with cheers when she told the crowd, "We need a nominee who is going to take on John McCain, not cheer him on."  read more »

Hillary Clinton has widened her lead over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, a new Quinnipiac poll shows. She now holds 53 percent of the vote among likely Democratic primary voters, while he has 41 percent. A poll released February 27 put her lead at 49 – 43.

Both Democrats have spent time in the state over the last few weeks, though Clinton has given her attention almost exclusively to Pennsylvania since the last contests.

The poll also shows a widening of the racial divide, with Obama’s share of support among black voters growing, and Clinton gaining among white voters.

Another notable piece of data, although I'm not sure how significant it is, particularly because Pennsylvania does not necessarily reflect the national opinion, shows that a fairly large number (43 percent) of these likely Democratic primary voters aren't interested in a joint ticket between the two remaining contenders.

The full release:  read more »

Slightly but significantly, Ed Rendell has separated himself from the Clinton campaign's assertion that Barack Obama can't win Pennsylvania–and the general election, for that matter–in the fall, telling MSNBC that Obama would be able to defeat John McCain in the Keystone State.  read more »

The Clinton campaign chastised Barack Obama this morning for what they said is his shunning of Pennsylvania, a state that the campaign argues a Democratic candidate needs to carry to win the general election.

On the call, according to Howard Wolfson, were a "great lineup of guests," including Governor Ed Rendell, who talked about "the Obama campaign's attempt to diminish the importance of the state" and Mayor Michael Nutter, who said he would "fire" a staffer who wrote a memo lowering expectations in Pennsylvania.

Mark Penn was on the call too, to make sure the campaign's main message was heard: "[Obama] doesn't seem to be able to pass the commander-in-chief test."

When asked during the question-and-answer period whether the intensifying rhetoric between the Clinton and Obama campaigns is destructive to Democratic chances in the general election, Rendell argued it was actually a good thing, because it takes attention away from John McCain.

More after the jump.  read more »

When he deputized Warren Christopher to oversee his search for a running mate in the spring of 1992, Bill Clinton recoiled at the suggestion that he might use the process to float names and score political points.

“I think it’s important not to play games with people’s names,” Clinton insisted. “I don’t think that’s a good thing to do.”

Sixteen years later, though, that’s precisely what Bill and Hillary Clinton are doing as they try to damn Barack Obama—the front-runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination—with the faint praise that he’d make a fine candidate for vice president.

“I’ve had people say, ‘Well I wish I could vote for both of you,’” Hillary said in Mississippi late last week. “Well, that might be possible some day. But first I need your vote on Tuesday.”  read more »

The morning after, CNN reports that Barack Obama has already been making (cheap) ad buys ahead of the March 11 Mississippi primary, while Hillary Clinton's campaign released this jubilant statement from Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell:  read more »

PHILADELPHIA—During a short press conference at an event at Philadelphia’s City Hall where Hillary Clinton received the endorsement of Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, a reporter asked if the governor approved of the aggressive campaigning Bill Clinton has been doing in the last few weeks against Barack Obama.

“Let me say this,” Rendell began. “You know that I have in my political career eschewed negative campaigning. But this is a rough and tumble, as Senator Clinton said, this is a tough election and the stakes are high. And everybody talks about not only what they want to do but talks about the weaknesses of what they think the other candidates” are.  read more »

PHILADELPHIA -- With the South Carolina primary three days away, Hillary Clinton is focusing on the tri-state area.
She is currently in Philadelphia’s City Hall, receiving the endorsement of Pennsylvania governor Edward Rendell.
“I’d like to take you back for a minute to the years when Hillary Clinton was our first lady,” said Rendell in his introduction of Clinton. “And Bill Clinton was our president.”
He spoke of a 45 percent decline in Pennsylvania’s deficit and a boom in jobs and “incredible economic progress” for African-American businesses and Hispanic businesses in the tri-state area.
“I will say that the Clinton years certainly had a dramatic effect on the trajectory of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Delaware,” said Rendell, adding that he would work for Hillary in South Jersey and Delaware, which, he said “will be meaningful.”
In her own remarks, Clinton spoke of Rendell’s achievements with words she has used to criticize Barack Obama.  read more »