The new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania shows Hillary Clinton has lost her lead over Barack Obama.
Here are the numbers, compared to the previous poll from just two weeks ago:
Clinton 49% (-3)
Obama 43% (+7)
Eric Kleefeld over at TPM:
Hillary's roadmap to the nomination includes wins in Texas and Ohio, followed by a big Pennsylvania win seven weeks later. But these polls shows that Pennsylvania — the last big Northeastern state not to have voted — could suddenly be a tough race by itself.
To understand how far of a fall this really is, you've got to compare it to past polls.
From TPM:
And, Barack Obama has now passed the One-Million donor mark:
1 MILLION DONORS.
Wow. Just, wow.
AS cookiesandmilk says in the comments below:
Meme:
Obama is publicly financed... by us!!!!
And if there was any question about just how much trouble Hillary Clinton is really in, her campaign is pleading with Super Delegates to "not take sides" yet.
From Huffington Post:
...Top Clinton aides are pleading with uncommitted super delegates to hold off making any commitments, fearful that any commitments they make would be to back Obama, not Clinton.
A set of talking points emailed to Clinton supporters within organized labor describes the arguments to use on uncommitted super delegates. In the email, the Clinton campaign suggests telling the uncommitted delegates that "it would be unfair and unjust to cut off the nominating process now. There might come a time when the process needs to come to a close, but that time is not now."
In language that could have been lifted from the Obama playbook just a few weeks ago, the email says Clinton backers should make the case to super delegates that: "If House, Senate and DNC members try to end this process now, it would be very damaging to those institutions, the Democratic Party and our chances in November."
Wow, that (my emphasis) sounds familiar.
But that wasn't all Huffington Post reported:
In the Clinton campaign's talking points email, Clinton supporters were told to argue that "late momentum in the primary may be an important factor impacting the perception of a candidate's strength going into the general election. If, as we expect, Hillary Clinton wins Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania, the current dynamics of this race will shift dramatically."
Oh, she needs to do much more than simply win both Ohio & Texas. She must win BIG.
UPDATE:
Obama is just like you & me, according to US Weekly! ;-)