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Family ties offer boost to Clinton in Pa.

By S.A. Miller
March 10, 2008

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton likes to call any outpost of support "Clinton country," but in Pennsylvania — where she's got a long family history and strong political ties — the campaign boast actually rings true.

Family connections give Mrs. Clinton a home-state advantage in Pennsylvania, where she and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois face off April 22 in the next big-state contest of a protracted and bruising campaign for the nomination.

Mrs. Clinton's run in Pennsylvania gets an added boost from her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who spent more than a decade forging steely bonds with the state's political heavyweights, including Gov. Edward G. Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, both Democrats who endorsed her.

"She has much deeper roots here," said Terry Madonna, political scientist and director of the public opinion research center at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. "Clinton should win this state."

The latest Franklin and Marshall College Poll shows Mrs. Clinton, of New York, ahead by 12 points in Pennsylvania. A Rasmussen Reports survey last week showed her up by 15 points.

Obama campaign officials acknowledged their rival's "huge advantage" in Pennsylvania, a concession that could make anything less than a landslide win for Mrs. Clinton look like a misstep. A close finish also will keep Mr. Obama ahead in the tally of nominating delegates as the race advances beyond the Keystone State, where 158 pledged delegates are at stake.

"She should be expected to win by some margin," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Friday. "But we are going to fight very hard in Pennsylvania. We've got a lot of supporters there. We will campaign as hard as we can to get as many delegates as we can."

He added, "We will be campaigning a lot in Pennsylvania but our campaign won't be defined by that state."

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