Obama: Clinton can't catch up even with Pennsylvania win

Barack Obama's campaign just sent out a memo to reporters trying to set the benchmark for tonight's results in Pennsylvania.

Because of the state's demographics, her family ties, and the support of the Democratic establishment, "by rights she should win big."

"Behind in delegates and sporting a 14-30 primary record (not good enough even to make the playoffs in the NBA Eastern Conference), the Clinton campaign needs a blowout victory in Pennsylvania to get any closer to winning the nomination," the memo asserts.

"But as he has done in every state, Senator Obama campaigned hard and tapped into the hunger for change at grassroots, looking to pick up as many delegates as possible. Old-fashioned, shoe-leather campaigning, in the face of unrelenting negative attacks from Senator Clinton, substantially closed a once-formidable gap."

The memo does not mention, however, that Obama has outspent Clinton by 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 or that he, as he has put it, has elbowed back with some attacks of his own.

Beyond Pennsylvania, Obama is unlikely to lose his lead among pledged delegates, so the Obama camp also hits back at the Clinton campaign's new focus on trying to overtake Obama in the popular vote. Heading into today's primary, that gap is about 700,000 -- or 100,000 if the disputed primaries in Florida and Michigan are added to the tally.

"Our strategy has always been to gain as many delegates as possible -- an important point to remember going forward," the memo says. "If this race had focused on the popular vote, we would have campaigned non-stop in California, for example, and run up our numbers even higher in Senator Obama’s home state of Illinois. But we focused on delegates because, simply, delegates decide the Democratic nominee.

"But even if we were to judge the primary on the popular vote, we anticipate having a comfortable lead when voting in the last nine contests wraps up in June. Senator Obama will continue to gain strength with Democratic superdelegates. He will maintain his position as the best candidate to take on John McCain. And he will be ready to unite the American people and begin a new chapter in our history."