The scorched hills of Pennsylvania

There's a long way until the primary in Pennsylvania. This is bad news.

If the Clinton campaign decides to continue its "kitchen sink" strategy, then PA residents are going to hear fear mongering and half-truths saying Obama can't be the next president for six weeks. They are going to hear Hillary say she's not sure if he's a Christian even though she attended the Senate's Tuesday Prayer Breakfasts with him. They are going to hear her say that he voted for Cheney's energy bill giving tax breaks to big oil even though she did the same thing. They are going to hear Clinton's surrogates say the only reason he's a nominee is because he's black. And then they are going to hear Clinton blame the Obama campaign for distracting from the issues when he cries foul. Yes, all of these things have happened in the past week or so.

Why does this matter?

Mathematically, it is nearly impossible for Clinton to win the nomination. PA is also a battle ground state in the general election. Which means when Obama returns to campaign against McCain, his credibility in a highly populated battleground state will be very low.

She could frame the debate about the issues. She could campaign on the differences in their platform. Admittedly, there are not many.

But if she chooses to continue her scorched earth campaign (which seems likely), and if Obama becomes the Dem's nominee (which seems likely), and if Obama loses PA, the blame can be placed at Hillary's feet.