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As primaries near, a candidate plans a visit, voters change party affiliations

March 8, 2008

Hillary heading to Scranton

Clinton bringing her campaign to Electric City Monday evening; will speak at high school.

By Bill O'Boyle boboyle@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
Bill O'Boyle on Facebook   |   @TLBillOboyle on Twitter

U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will make a campaign stop in Scranton on Monday.

Clinton will speak at Scranton High School at 6 p.m. Monday as part of the senator’s “Solutions for America” rally tour, according to Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds Evie McNulty, a volunteer in the Clinton campaign.

McNulty said doors will open at 4:30 p.m. and admittance will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We expect a large crowd, so I advise people to get there early,” she said.

The former first lady’s family, the Rodhams, has roots in Scranton. Clinton was born and reared in Chicago.

The Clinton campaign also announced she will visit Harrisburg and Philadelphia on Tuesday. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton will be in Pittsburgh Tuesday.

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty said he is thrilled that Clinton has made his city her first campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

“We’re very proud to have Sen. Clinton come to Scranton,” Doherty said. “We consider her one of our own. I’m a big supporter of Sen. Clinton and we hope to get out the vote so she wins our primary.”

Doherty said Clinton’s uncle, George Rodham, served as a Scranton city councilman and Hillary was baptized in the Electric City. He said her family lived in Scranton for more than 100 years, having resided near Weston Field.

Lisa Caputo, who served as Clinton’s press secretary while she was first lady, and a senior campaign adviser, said she is hoping to make it to Monday’s rally. Caputo, a local native who lives in New York, is chief marketing officer at Citigroup Inc. Caputo is a 1982 graduate of Wyoming Seminary.

“Northeastern Pennsylvania has always been a place near and dear to Sen. Clinton’s heart,” Caputo said. “Her late father hails from the area and she has longtime roots in the area. She loves Northeastern Pennsylvania, and for her, this will be like a trip coming home.”

Clinton is locked in a battle with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois for the Democratic presidential nomination. While Pennsylvania is being called the new Iowa or even New Hampshire, Clinton’s campaign is hoping Pennsylvania can be the next Ohio or Texas – two states where Clinton recently won key primary victories.

At stake in the Keystone State’s April 22 primary are 158 delegates – the biggest prize among the remaining primaries.

According to early polls, Clinton leads Obama in Pennsylvania, but not by a large margin. Gov. Ed Rendell has endorsed the New York senator.

Pennsylvania has an older population, a demographic she has done well with, especially older female voters.

A graduate of Yale, Clinton was elected U.S. senator from New York in 2000. She is the first former first lady elected to the U.S. Senate and the first woman elected statewide in New York.

The last time Pennsylvania played a pivotal role in a presidential primary was in 1976 when Jimmy Carter won the state and then won the Democratic nomination.

IF YOU GO

6 p.m. Monday, at Scranton High School, 63 Mike Munchak Way. Doors open at 4:30 p.m.

How to get there: Take I-81 north to the Central Scranton Expressway ( a left lane exit); take expressway to Jefferson Avenue; turn right; go to Mulberry Street and turn left; go five blocks and as you are leaving center city, take the first exit on the North Scranton Expressway – Providence Road/7th Avenue; turn right on North 7th Avenue; turn left on Carbon Street, then left on Mike Munchak Way to Scranton High School (located near Scranton Memorial Stadium).

Bill O’Boyle, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7218.

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