40 days until Pennsylvania

The Democratic primaries have just become what seems to be the longest waiting game ever. If the days crept by any slower people might just forget Hillary and Obama are trying to secure the democratic nomination. At this point in time Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton 1,611 to 1,480. Unlike their Republican opponent John McCain, there’s still work to be done. In order to secure the nomination at this point in time the Democratic candidates need at least 2,025 to win.
Unfortunately for those of us who lack the patience to see who gets there first, we have a long time to wait before the current numbers even move. The next time primary polls are set to take votes won’t be until April 22nd in the great state of Pennsylvania. According to CNN.com’s poll of 500 respondents, Clinton is projected to win over Obama 45% to 35% with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4. If this is the case then we can see Clinton feasibly walking off with the miniscule amount of delegates that Pennsylvania has.
The scene in Pennsylvania itself should be interesting to watch however. According to CNN, there have been recent attempts to reform healthcare in the state. With this in mind we can see that it would present an opportunity for both Obama and Clinton to once again pit their healthcare plans against each other. With that as one of Hillary’s strong points it’s no surprise that CNN’s polls predict that she may come out a winner.
Also we see Pennsylvania hosts one of the largest elderly populations in the nation second only to Florida. This may be one of the reasons why there is a rising demand for healthcare reform. Whatever the case, this is a demographic that both candidates will have to appeal to heavily if they want to pull off a win in this state. It is also possible that healthcare will be the main issue which decides who will take the delegates in Pennsylvania.
There are other interesting things besides those that have to relate to the great state of Pennsylvania. Firstly, it’s known that the residents in central Pennsylvania oppose gun control laws and hold strong religious values. These are two traditional mainstays of the conservative wing. Other fun facts from past elections include the fact that Pennsylvania has been won by the Democratic consistently for the past four elections. Also, in 2004, Kerry won a close race against Bush in Pennsylvania edging him out 51% to 48.5%.