A Lesson in Pennsylvania Politics

While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were duking it out for the Democratic nomination in the Keystone State Tuesday night, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain was taking a page out of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's 2004 playbook and visiting places outside his comfort zone.

During the 2004 Democratic primary, Ed Rendell and current US Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. were locked in a bitter battle for governor. Former state Attorney General Mike Fisher had easily sailed to the GOP nomination and was sitting back, watching the slugfest along with everyone else in the state. When it was over, Rendell was victorious, but battered.

The general election between Fisher and Rendell became equally hard-fought, but Rendell's campaign strategist, David Sweet, had secretly devised an ingenius plan. The idea was simple: push down the pluralities in all the areas where Rendell was unpopular and turn out a huge vote in the areas where he was popular.

Rendell, the magnanimous former mayor of Philadelphia, campaigned tirelessly in conservative strongholds like Lancaster County and the rest of Central Pennsylvania -- areas Fisher had long considered to be locked up tight. Rendell visited Lancaster 11 times during the general election, compared to just one visit from Fisher, who was expecting to win Lancaster County by a margin of 80,000 votes. During his lone visit to the county, Fisher actually urged local Republicans to try to deliver a 100,000-vote margin.

When it was all over, Philadelphia and its surrounding counties turned out 80 percent of its vote for Rendell (an unprecedented figure) and although Fisher beat the former mayor in most areas of the state, the margins just weren't high enough to seal a victory. In Lancaster, Rendell lost to Fisher by just 40,000 votes -- a clear victory for the Democrats by all accounts.

So why is this important now?

In terms of the current Democratic primary, Rendell's shrewd campaign advisors no doubt engineered an impressive win for Clinton on Tuesday night, and the victory should serve as a wake-up call to the Obama camp. With the Rendell machine in Clinton's corner, expect a few more upsets as the Democratic eyes of the nation look toward Indiana and North Carolina. Remember, before he was Pennsylvania governor, Rendell was Democratic National Chairman, so he knows a thing or two about national politics. Pennsylvania pundits often wonder aloud whether Rendell is planning a presidential bid of his own some day.

McCain, meanwhile, already appears to be applying Rendell's strategy at the national level. Instead of sitting back and watching the Democratic action, McCain is out campaigning in places often neglected by GOP front-runners. Instead of resting on his laurels, McCain is making in-roads in turf normally claimed by Democrats. McCain has always been popular with Independents and lately he's enjoyed a quiet kind of success converting former wary Republicans to his cause. If he can pool a strong contingent of crossover Democrats, the presidency could be McCain's to win in November.