Today's primaries, which could make or break Sen. Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic nomination, come as the New York senator enjoys support from both local and state officials.
State College Mayor Bill Welch stated Sunday at a campaign meeting in Pleasant Gap that he plans to vote for Clinton, citing his support of her stance on health care and higher education policies.
"If [Clinton] were able to bring about health care reform or increasing aid to higher education with tuition, that would obviously have a big impact in Centre County," Welch said.
While he also thinks Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., would make an excellent candidate, Welch said he follows his wife's expression, "Hillary now; Barack later."
"Obama will be just fine, but I just want my president to be a little older and a little seasoned," he said.
Penn State College Democrats President Sean Meloy said some people were given information about how to help the Clinton campaign leading up to today's primaries.
Today's Texas and Ohio primaries, Meloy said, are crucial to Clinton's campaign.
"She needs at least one of the states in order to continue," Meloy said. "I don't see the superdelegates staying with her if she doesn't win at least one." Mark Nevins, communications director for the Clinton campaign in Pennsylvania, said an aggressive campaign will be run in Pennsylvania regardless of what happens in the two states tonight.
"Pennsylvania is going to be like Ohio on steroids," Nevins said.
Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania has decreased in the past two weeks to 49 percent, compared to Obama's 43 percent, according to a Feb. 27 Quinnipiac University poll. Clinton supporter Gov. Ed Rendell remains unchanged on his decision to endorse Clinton, Rendell's press secretary Chuck Ardo said. "[Rendell] believes she is the better of the two candidates," Ardo said. "He also believes we are fortunate to have two wonderful candidates to choose from." Should Clinton lose the two primaries today and drop out of the primary race, Rendell would become "an enthusiastic supporter of Obama," Ardo said, adding "his position has not wavered with Hillary Clinton, but he will support whichever candidate wins the Democratic nomination."
