World

Swing myths

April 21, 2008
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If the headlines are to be believed, Hillary's 10 point victory in Pennsylvania yesterday proved she is still a serious contender. Her win injected her cash-strapped campaign with an almost instant $2.5m boost, and, according to many pundits, exposed the "weaknesses" in Obama's strategy. It provided, she was quick to say, irrefutable evidence that she is the "best candidate" to take on McCain in November–that she is the only one who can win the crucial swing states.

Less in focus, however, is the uncomfortable truth that it's still mathematically impossible for her to win the popular vote among Democrats (something I touched on in my dispatch from Pennsylvania last week). Less still is the fact that, while she may have taken another "swing state" by a convincing margin, she did not take its swing voters. Obama, as his strategists had predicted, did far better among independent voters and former Republicans. One would imagine this is unlikely to crop up too often in her overtures to superdelegates.