Team Clinton's tactics pay off in Pa.

Hillary opens a 12-point lead in the latest Pennsylvania primary poll (via Memeorandum).

The survey was taken March 10-16, in a week when ABC News went on air (March 13) with video of anti-American rants by Obama's pastor.

Was it merely a coincidence that ABC News decided to air those videos (videos which have been around for many months) at this crucial point in the Democratic presidential race? Is it coincidental that Jeremiah Wright's racially provocative rants made national news in the run-up to the key primary in Pennsylvania, a state with a population that's 86% white?

Yeah, probably just a coincidence. But I'm old enough to remember the Lewinsky scandal and something Hillary said at that time:

"One of my husband's favorite old Southern sayings . . . is that if you find a turtle on a fence post, it didn't get there by accident."

Obama's supporters ought to take a long, hard look at how this particular turtle ended up on top of that particular fence post.

UPDATE: Ace shares my suspicions:

No Republican could push this very legitimate story to the press because the headline would not be about Wright. The headline would read:
Republican Operatives In Whispering Campaign of Racial Code-Words and Hate
But of course if a liberal in good standing brings the same issue to the press, it's legitimate, and they run the actual story.

Right. And I hope all of Obama's supporters realize that it was the "liberals in good standing" at Team Clinton who provided this opportunity for all those eee-vil Rethuglicans to feast on Obama's liver (with fava beans).

BTW, nice to be linked by CPAC Blogger of the Year, idol of Ewok fetishists everywhere.

UPDATE II: James Joyner at Outside the Beltway wonders, if the Obama/Wright story was a torpedo from Team Hillary, why it was fired so early:

It’d been much smarter to wait a couple of weeks and have this controversy in full bloom when people are voting in the Keystone State. April 22 is a long time from now and people will be caught up in taxes, the NFL draft, and other diversions by then unless this thing has a whole lot more legs than I think it does.

Maybe. On the other hand, with Obama leading in the delegate count, it could be argued that Team Hillary needed to strike hard -- and strike early -- to blunt Obama's momentum. Whatever the percentage of undecided Democratic primary voters in Pennsylvania, their numbers could be expected to shrink steadily, as more and more jumped to one candidate or the other.

If Team Hillary could push up Obama's negatives at the outset of the Pennsylvania campaign, this would give her a lead in the state's polls, thus forcing Obama onto the defensive, and making him fight for a come-from-behind win. Also, this early scandal story will naturally be a topic in their subsequent debates.

Besides, I have a sneaking feeling that Team Hillary is holding in reserve an even bigger scandal story for the final week of the Pennsylvania campaign. They won't use it unless they need it, but if they need it . . . watch out.