MSNBC/McClatchy Poll: Pennsylvania Race Very Tight

Political Wire reports [HERE] A new MSNBC/McClatchy/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poll of Pennsylvania shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leads Sen. Barack Obama, 48% to 43%. Considering the 4% margin of error, it means the race is a statistical tie. "The poll is consistent with what the campaigns and other reputable polls have been showing and that is Clinton getting close to 50% and Obama struggling to climb over 45%."

Chuck Todd: "So while the poll shows Clinton with a narrow lead (and arguably a narrowing lead), the clues inside the numbers indicate this is her race to lose and that her lead could expand. Should this race end up as close as this poll indicates (i.e. 5 points or less), then this means many of these undec. potential Clinton voters decided to stay home; If the come to the polls, she could see her lead climb to over 5 points."

 Hillary Clinton Continues to Fall Out with African Americans
According to the Washington Post The percentage of Blacks holding strongly favorable views of her has fallen from 55 percent after the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 8 to 24 percent, according to polling by The Washington Post and ABC News. When Bill Clinton visited Philadelphia last month to stump for his wife before the city's Democratic leaders, State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, an Obama supporter, said he told the former president he was concerned about the tone of the campaign and did not want to see racial subtleties seep into the Pennsylvania race. Yet, the story line of the campaign here has been focused on who can win over white working-class voters -- who understands them and who doesn't, he said.

"This thing about honky-tonk America, drinking a beer and shooting guns, is just patronizing to people in small towns and in big cities, where we also feel forgotten about," Williams said. "I don't think it's good for the country. I don't think it's good for the Democratic Party, and it's not good for African Americans, who have been loyal supporters of the Democratic Party. Whether people like it or not, these scars will remain after the Democratic primary is over."