Obama Not Predicting Win In Pennsylvania

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Barack Obama

Often it is the campaigns and their surrogates, not the candidates themselves, who do the heavy lifting in setting expectations ahead of key election contests. But this morning Barack Obama told a Pittsburgh radio station exactly what he expects in tomorrow's Pennsylvania primary.

"I'm not predicting a win," Obama said, according to the Associated Press. "I'm predicting it's going to be close and that we are going to do a lot better than people expect."

Hillary Clinton leads Obama in the final Pennsylvania polls – one survey out today has the former first lady leading by seven, while another has her up by 10. The Clinton campaign, pointing to Obama's heavy campaigning and spending blitz in the state, is arguing that any win on her part constitutes a victory in the larger sense. Obama's team, meanwhile, has been suggesting that Clinton must win by double digits for her performance in the state to be considered a success.

"We've run a tough race here in Pennsylvania," Obama told the radio station. "Senator Clinton obviously was heavily favored. She was up 20. And you know, we've just been trying to chip away."

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by tawpdawg11 April 21, 2008 8:52 PM EDT: I can''''t for the life of me understand why blue collar voters in PA support Clinton and her pro-NAFTA record, as opposed to Obama who has already stood up for laid-off steel workers in his recent past. It just doesn''''t add up. Then you read where they have to hide the empty seats in a small high school gym at a Clinton "rally" behind a big blue curtain while the Obama rally has 35,000 boisterous folks chanting "YES WE CAN" at the top of their lungs. It just makes no sense to me how supposedly legitimate polling shows her to be so far ahead when the enthusiasm at their staged events so overwhelmingly favors Obama. I JUST DON"T GET IT. C''''mon, PA....Barack will go to the mat for you!; Reply to this comment


by shfoster April 21, 2008 6:43 PM EDT: Dante 805, we are not afraid. Millions of Obama supporters from all walks of life are encouraged that someone has come along that emboidies the charcter of the America we love - courageous, intelligent, fair minded and always hopeful.; Reply to this comment


by westafer2 April 21, 2008 5:35 PM EDT: This election is not about whether you happen to be a woman or a man, or whether your father was a black man or a white man, an Asian or a Hispanic. This election is about the future of our country.
We are at a historic moment in America. Barack Obama is a very special candidate for president who can bring about significant changes in Washington and help ordinary Americans begin reclaiming their democracy.
Both the Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, and Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey Jr. know this and have recently endorsed Senator Barack Obama, recognizing Obama%u2019s integrity, intelligence, and the strong leadership he can provide as president.
It is time for voters in Pennsylvania and in all of the other states soon to vote in presidential primary elections to stand up and be counted. It%u2019s time for ordinary Americans to begin the process of reclaiming American democracy by voting for Barack Obama.; Reply to this comment


by jack3213 April 21, 2008 5:02 PM EDT: A typical flip flopper is a Democrat who concedes before the contest- and then blames the other when they lose. Talk about lack of self-esteem. You don''t win anything if you think you can''t. Clinton is the most pathetic liar there is, but so is Obama. The Democratic choices are so, so sad. MCCAIN 2008/..there is no contest.; Reply to this comment


by cbsespo April 21, 2008 4:59 PM EDT: She can`t manage a successful campaign how can she run a country ?; Reply to this comment


by popstom1 April 21, 2008 4:53 PM EDT: 30 million + and still losses
gives Clinton time; Reply to this comment


by jone775 April 21, 2008 3:59 PM EDT: I''m with Obama on this one; he will lose by a slim margin. However, this doesn''t affect the delegate count much and in the end, he will still win the nomination. Go Obama!; Reply to this comment


by dante805 April 21, 2008 3:57 PM EDT: Forget the economy; no President can effect the economy; Only congress and the FED can. The biggest issue is appt of Judges; SC and Appeals judges. Obama cannot be trusted to appt constitutionalist. Look st his thoughts on judges and the criteria used to select them; simply amazing on his lack of understanding.

Obama the Democratic front-runner and former lecturer on constitutional law at the University of Chicago has explained his thinking toward judicial appointments thusly: "We need somebody who%u2019s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it''''s like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it%u2019s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old - and that%u2019s the criteria by which I%u2019ll be selecting my judges."

When defending his vote against Justice John Roberts'''' confirmation, Obama explained that the standard for a justice must be "one''''s deepest values, one''''s core concerns, one''''s broader perspectives on how the world works, and the depth and breadth of one''''s empathy." WoW! Imagine this guy selectin 2 SC justives and dozens of circuit judges. Yikes, be afraid,,,very afraid.; Reply to this comment