Thousands Switch Parties In Pennsylvania

Last week, we found out that there are over 200,000 new voters in Pennsylvania and most of them have registered as Democrats so they could vote for Obama. But there is another interesting phenomena happening in Pennsylvania -- party switching.

Over 178,000 people have switched their party registration in Pennsylvania this year, and 90% of them have registered as Democrats. There is strong anecdotal evidence that most of these people have switched so they can vote for Barack Obama.

There are 4.2 million Democrats in Pennsylvania, and state officials believe that as many as 50% of them may vote in the primary today. If, as expected, Obama gets nearly all the new voters and the party switchers, that could give him a boost of over 350,000 votes. That's a significant chunk of votes in a closely contested election.

Clinton tried to turn a statement that Obama made last week about "bitter" voters, but it doesn't look like Pennsylvania voters are buying it. The latest poll shows Obama only 5% behind with 8% still undecided. It is clear that although the mainstrem media played up the remark, Clinton has been unable to turn it to her advantage.

The new voters and party-switchers say they are voting for Obama for two main reasons. They find him to be inspiring, and they want a big change from the status quo. To these people, Clinton (and McCain) represent the old politics, while Obama represents a real change.

It's beginning to look like Clinton's strategy of throwing everything at Obama except the kitchen sink is not working for her. In fact, some voters say they have decided to vote for Obama since the last debate. They appreciate that he kept to the high road and quietly answered charges, while Clinton engaged in slinging mud.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC and others are still saying that Clinton will win by around 10%. I don't think so. I think she'll be lucky to maintain the 5% she has in the latest poll, and that's not good enough to help her catch up with Obama. A less than double-digit win by Clinton would actually be a moral and delegate victory for Obama.

But the waiting is finally over for Pennsylvania. Tonight we'll finally know the results there.