What to expect on PA Primary Day

By Fester

Wow -- we are finally here, Pennsylvania Primary day.  I'll be voting in a couple of minutes and hopefully the little old ladies will still have good cookies on sale at my polling station.  I'm still not sure where the state will go tonight. I'm still comfortable with my initial call that Hillary Clinton wins the state by six points or so. 

I know I'll be at Pittsburgh Drinking Liberally as the polls close and then at a friend's election party which hopefully will be as rocking as the Super Tuesday Party where the cops were called for noise disturbances. Yeah, we are wonks and nerds...  Pittsburgh Drinking Liberally will be at Buffalo Blues on Highland Avenue on the 2nd Floor loft, and we'll be starting at 7:00pm.

So what types of reports could we hear today that could give us some indicators of who should do well tonight?  I'll start with a favorable Obama set of reports and then go to a favorable Clinton report.

For Obama

• Long lines at polling places in the Hill District, Homewood, Duquesne
• No Clinton campaign presence at these locations (very high African American precints)
• Voters are looking for 'change'
• Voters are disgusted with media
• Midafternoon reports of low turnout in Somerset County
• A call for more ballots in West Philadelphia
• Erie County is reporting short lines
• Centre County (home of Penn State) has run out of ballots and a judge approved holding the polls open for another hour
• Electability is being bandied around as the first exit polls are released to the news agencies that commissioned them
• Wilkes-Barre and Scranton are seeing good but not great turnout
• No immediate post-polls closing call

For Clinton

• Turnout in Squirrel Hill and Center City is light
• Voters are looking for 'experience'
• More women are coming out
• Long lines at the polls around 10:30AM
• Carbon County is running out of ballots in the mid-afternoon
• Decent but not great turnout in PA-14 and PA-2
• Early post-voting calls