Clinton Capturing Cave Dweller Vote in PA: White, Under-educated, bowlers, gun owners and hunters

Hillary Clinton leads among bowlers, gun owners and hunters in Pennsylvania, a blue-collar trifecta that is helping her hold an edge over rival Barack Obama heading into Tuesday's pivotal primary there. The New York senator leads by solid margins in all three slices of working-class Pennsylvania - the political battleground where the two Democrats have waged war for control of the state, according to a new poll conducted for McClatchy Newspapers, MSNBC and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Overall, Clinton leads Obama by a margin of 48-43 percent, with 8 percent still undecided. Clinton seems to have won the better part of the culture clash, leading among hunters by a margin of 56-31 percent, among bowlers by 54-33 percent, and among gun owners by 53-28 percent. Obama leads among blacks, voters younger than 35, Protestants, and those looking for change or honesty.The telelphone survey of 635 likely Pennsylvania voters was taken April 17-18 and had an error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points. [MORE]

 Jimmy Carter says Support for Obama strong worldwide
AP News Globetrotting former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he's found strong support for Barack Obama during his recent trips to Africa and Asia. Carter has stopped short of formally endorsing Obama as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee and would not be drawn on the issue in a meeting with reporters Monday. However, Carter noted that his children, grandchildren and their spouses back the Illinois senator who is competing with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton for the nomination. Carter says Obama was the favorite in his travels to Ghana, Nigeria and Nepal. He says "world opinion is strongly supportive of Obama, that's all we hear."

Chris Rock says "It's going to be hard for Barack to be president. . . . Hillary's not going to give up. She's like Glenn Close in 'Fatal Attraction.'

Spike In Democratic Voter Registrations Could Narrow Clinton Margin In Pennsylvania.
From the Frontrunner The Politico (4/21, Cummings) reports, "An historic spike in Democratic voter registrations in Pennsylvania could help Barack Obama cut into Hillary Clinton's vote in Tuesday's primary, robbing her of the big victory margin she needs to justify continuing the primary fight. The changing party demographics also are contributing to an overall bluing of" Pennsylvania "that could dim Republican John McCain's hopes of competing there in the fall. A county-by-county analysis by Politico suggests that the hard-fought primary between Obama and Clinton has accelerated an ongoing partisan shift in Pennsylvania that could soon move it out of the battleground presidential states and ripple across congressional races this fall, as well." The Politico reports that "since January about 217,000 new voters have registered for the April 22 primary, the vast majority of whom signed up as Democrats. ... Those party-switchers now represent about 7 percent of the roughly 2 million Democratic voters expected to turnout Tuesday, said" Terry Madonna, a political scientist and director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll." A survey "of those swit chers and new registrants released by Madonna last week found that Obama was the preferred candidate for 62 percent of them." Madonna says "those newcomers could help Obama cut a Clinton victory margin by 2 to 3 percentage points."

Pelosi Could Lead Push To Determine Nominee Before Convention.
The Wall Street Journal (4/21, A1, Calmes, 2.06M) reports on its front page that the "rising vitriol" of the campaign "is prompting more Democrats to demand that party leaders do something to end the battle. But no single leader or clique exists within the fractious party to end the fight, and those with influence insist voters must have their say. Nevertheless, some party leaders are quietly planning to try to end the clash, said people familiar with the matter. After the primaries end in June, these influential Democrats -- led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- plan to push the last uncommitted party leaders to endorse a candidate, in hopes of preventing a fight at the August presidential convention, party insiders say."