On the Campaign, and Money, Trail

With seven weeks of campaigning under his or her belt, it will be hard for the loser in the Pennsylvania primary to explain away the loss. Yes, Barack Obama wants to call a narrow loss there a victory and Hillary Clinton will need to call even a narrow victory a blow-out — no matter how you shake it, the contest is crucial for both of them. And they have enough time to make their case to the voters there, period.

So the question of the proud Pennsylvania tradition of street money is also critical. Can Clinton and Obama ultimately resist paying the ward bosses who get paid to deliver the votes? Each needs the win badly, and The Los Angeles Times today examines the pressure the candidates will face from the locals who want a reward for their hard work.

Though it is legal, Obama isn’t paying. According to the Times: “Neither the Clinton nor the Obama campaign would say publicly whether it would comply with Philadelphia’s street money customs. But an Obama aide said Thursday that it had never been the campaign’s practice to make such payments. Rather, the campaign’s focus [is] to recruit new people drawn to Obama’s message, the aide said.”

Interesting that the campaigns won’t take a public stance, hedging those bets and leaving the options open. Some locals are warning Obama that Clinton will likely pay. “Obama’s posture confounds neighborhood political leaders sympathetic to his cause. They caution that if the senator from Illinois withholds money that gubernatorial, mayoral and presidential candidates have willingly paid out for decades, there could be defections to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. And the Clinton campaign, in contrast, will oblige in forking over the money, these ward leaders predict.”

No matter what happens on April 22, don’t forget to follow the street money. We should know who paid to play.

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ASK A.B. is back on Monday, April 14 — Send your Pennsylvania primary questions to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com to join my weekly video Q & A.