The Note: Baggage Check

April 18, 2008 -- Those campaign buses (and planes and trains) making their way across Pennsylvania this weekend will be carrying an awful lot of baggage (and they -- along with a certain television network -- may have picked up a fresh load back at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia).

For Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., a "win" in a debate will only be relevant or remembered if Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary reflects it -- and only running up the score really counts.

For Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., a difficult debate can be erased by keeping it close in the Keystone State -- but he can add Bill Ayers to the list of names that will follow him for as long as he's a candidate.

Yet all those "questions" and "doubts" probed at the debate and beyond only matter if superdelegates see them -- and a certain point, it's actions that matter, not words (with apologies to Obama).

And so far . . . nothing.

"Despite giving it her best shot in what might have been their final debate, interviews on Thursday with a cross-section of these superdelegates . . . showed that none had been persuaded much by her attacks on Mr. Obama's strength as a potential Democratic nominee, his recent gaffes and his relationships with his former pastor and with a onetime member of the Weather Underground," Patrick Healy writes in The New York Times.

It may be the voting that (shockingly) counts: "If there were some moments of concern reflected in the debate -- the talk of Mrs. Clinton's high unfavorability ratings, Mr. Obama's flashes of annoyance -- they all doubted that those moments would be deal-breakers, either," Healy writes. "Instead, most of the superdelegates said they wanted to wait for the results of at least the next major primaries -- in Pennsylvania on Tuesday and Indiana and North Carolina two weeks later -- before choosing a candidate."

As Obama sought to turn post-debate fire on the debate itself -- and as both candidates took a truthiness break Thursday night -- the first day after what may have been the last debate brought movement toward only his direction: Two new superdelegates give Obama a 145-delegate edge, per ABC's delegate tracker.

(Clinton's margin among the supers is down to 20 -- some people must agree with Clinton that Obama can beat Sen. John McCain.)

For the supers -- and for the press -- wins aren't necessarily wins: "Anything less than a double-digit victory could solidify the perception that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama is the inevitable Democratic nominee, sparking a flow of superdelegates to his side," Amy Chozick writes in The Wall Street Journal. "Her goal must be to change the dynamic of the race, raising doubts about Sen. Obama's ability to carry states like Pennsylvania and lifting her chances of replicating the win in Indiana on May 6."

Count Dr. Dean among those who want an answer -- now. "I need them to say who they're for -- starting now,'" DNC Chairman Howard Dean said of superdelegates, on CNN. "We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time. . . . We've got to know who our nominee is."

But don't discount the degree to which these leaders are becoming followers: "Where once power flowed downward from party chieftains and elected officials to voters, figures like [Rep. Robert] Brady [D-Pa.] -- who answers to different constituencies as a ward leader, party boss, congressman, and superdelegate -- are for the first time feeling strong pressure from those they represent," Sasha Issenberg writes in The Boston Globe.

Said Brady -- whose heavily black Philadelphia district is likely to lean Obama: "I'm kind of hoping my district will tell me what to do."

Who's in a rush, anyway? "Dozens of uncommitted superdelegates with sway over the Democratic presidential nomination say Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday won't be the decisive factor in their choice between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama," Fredreka Schouten writes in USA Today. "Instead, they told USA TODAY and Gannett News Service, they will choose by July 1, a deadline suggested by Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean."

Obama sought to brush off his debate performance, "both literally and figuratively," per ABC's Sunlen Miller. "That's her right to kind of twist the knife a little bit," Obama said. "That's what you got to do," he added with a laugh. "That is also precisely why I'm running for president to change that kind of politics."

(And Barack Obama as Jay-Z? The Atlantic's Matthew Yglegsias picks up on the brush-off that was "somewhere between a dog whistle to the kids and a reverse Sister Souljah.")

Obama "attempted to get back on the offensive Thursday, arguing that his candidacy offers a clear departure from the attack politics and trivial issues that he said have dominated presidential campaigns and led to gridlock in Washington," Shailagh Murray and Perry Bacon Jr. write in The Washington Post. "Obama and his team appeared taken aback by some of the negative reviews of his performance in the 90-minute debate."

(And in case you were wondering -- Obama doesn't seem keen on committing to a 22nd debate, in North Carolina or elsewhere. "I could deliver Senator Clinton's lines," Obama said, per the Charlotte Observer's Jim Morrill and David Ingram.

"I'm sure she could deliver mine." We'd tune in for that.)

Former President Bill Clinton was "tickled" by the debate -- and it helps to have a selective memory, or at least selective hearing. "Well, they've been beatin' up on her for 15 months," he said, per ABC's Sarah Amos. "I didn't hear her whining when he said she was untruthful in Iowa or called her the senator from Punjab."

The Boston Globe's Susan Milligan sees a shift in tactics for the stretch: "While Barack Obama slammed his rival for attacking him in Wednesday night's debate, Hillary Clinton sought yesterday to convince voters she is likable, sparing Obama from harsh rhetoric and jokingly noting that she's nicer than some people seem to think," she writes.