Clinton’s Pennsylvania Landslide?

Running now on Drudge is a banner that screams “CLINTON INTERNALS SHOW 11-POINT LEAD IN PA.” Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign has given some of its internal polling numbers to The Drudge Report. These numbers show a greater than 100 percent larger margin than the Real Clear Politics polling average for Pennsylvania in the Democratic primary.

Is this true? Could their numbers be correct?

Clinton enjoys many electoral advantages in Pennsylvania, where Obama has the major cities and Clinton has the suburbs locked down. However, Obama has over a nine-point lead nationwide, a margin that has to bleed over into a state like Pennsylvania.

While there is a slim possibility that the internal Clinton tracking numbers are correct, let’s look at a few basic facts:

* Primary polling is much more difficult to capture than general election polling due to the challenge in determining likely voters

* Primary polling is especially hard when you have unpredictable voter turnout

* Weekend polling is notoriously sketchy

* The internal numbers were leaked today (not Sunday, when presumably they had similar numbers).

The “internal” poll was given to Drudge to splash on his front page, will be covered via cable TV today and tonight and energize Clinton voters tomorrow that they can not only win but do so by double digits. Not a bad publicity stunt to provide for a horserace-oriented mainstream media pack.

The only real danger in this strategy is the numbers, even if legit today, will not hold up at the ballot box tomorrow. But since this is Clinton’s last stand — should she lose — what’s the downside, from a political strategist’s perspective? You be the judge.