Hillary Has a Friend in Pennsylvania

And that friend is Gov. Ed Rendell.

Rendell will not help in the western portion of but he sure will in the Philly suburb counties of Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, Lehigh, and potentially Berks. These are the areas that carried him to the governor's mansion and they could put Hillary over the top.

Central and western PA is blue collar and though very Democrat, a conservative variety. These are coal and steel workers who will be a hard sell for Obama. Hillary, not so much. Look at the OH vote and you'll get an idea of that region.

The Philly burbs are more mainstream Democrat with some conservative enclaves. They will be closely contested by the two and Rendell could be the key to a Hillary win. He's well-liked in Philly as he was an outspoken mayor who still is on TV talking sports and he was followed by a corrupt and inept (also Democrat) successor that makes people remember him even more fondly.

The PA race is critical and the campaigning starts today. I'm sure the local TV stations are ecstatic but I guess I'll be forced to watch dozens of irritating ads during every commercial break