Scranton St Patrick's Day Parade: A Presidential Affair?

A combonation of news and rumors has been swirling around throughout NEPA in the last few days. It started with Hillary Clinton's visit to Scranton and her 30-minute speech at Scranton High School. She let it slip that she would be attending The Parade along with Gov Ed Rendell.

With the coming primary around the bend, PA has become a hotbed of political activity. Hillary already has solid ties to the area. Even during her husband's presidency, she would make trips to her father's home here in Scranton.

When news of her next visit hit the wire, the media began to wonder if others may be interested. Well, I'm sad to say that there will be no guarantee that a future president will be marching with the Irish in The Parade. Obama's campaign confirmed that they would be there only to back out citing a prior conflict. Hours later, McCain's camp declined the hypothetical invite in favor of visiting southeast PA.

It will be interesting to see how this affects the people of Scranton. Having Hillary in town twice within a week is exciting. It shows that she values the people here in NEPA. I'm sure the other presidential hopefulls will make it here eventually, but The Parade is one of the biggest events in NEPA. It means alot to have her here.