April Observations
April 7th, 2008 at 2:50 pm by Jim Shella under Jim Shella's Political Blog
Some things to thing about:
-Hillary Clinton hits the air with commercials in Indiana this week. Now the battle here is joined in every respect. After 40 years of nothing, we’re Iowa, only with higher stakes.
-That is, unless Hillary loses in Pennsylvania. Do both the Clinton and Obama campaigns pull the plug here if that happens?
-Evan Strange’s 15 minutes are up. (The kid who asked the Lewinsky question at Butler.)
-Jim Greeson’s elevation to State Fire Marshall clears the way for Mayor Greg Ballard to put his stamp on the Indianapolis Fire Department.
-The Dave Matthews free tickets in exchange for a promised voter registration produced no arrests. Are prosecutors looking the other way? Or, is it ok?
-Pollster Del Ali (The WISH-TV Indiana Poll) says that if Obama wins here, so does Jill Long Thompson.
Tags: Clinton, Evan Strange, Jim Greeson, Obama
Pollster Del Ali has been proven wrong in at least two recent races in the South Bend area: Mayor Steve Luecke in 2007 and Congressman Joe Donnelly in 2006. If Jill Long Thompson gets a bump at all it will be from women who vote for the first female governor as well as the first female president.
Dave Matthews tickets were given to anyone who was registered to vote, previously or at the event. Once inside voters could enjoy the concert, hear who Matthews supports (Obama) and leave, free to vote for Obama or Clinton. If the Clinton team is crying foul, let them bring in whoever they want. In Indiana we are unaccustomed to such events, but in Iowa John Edwards had John Mellencamp, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne perform at events. Chris Dodd had Paul Simon. Happens all the time. No need for the law to step in.
Even if Hillary wins Pennsylvania, she still needs to win out to catch Obama and the math is not on her side. This is like a seven game series with Clinton down 3 games to 1 and Obama ahead in the ninth inning.