"Forget 'Rocky'; Clinton Relives Basketball Legend"

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

 

    OK! Enough already with the theme from "Rocky!" If I hear it one more time, I may vomit! Look, it's a great song with a great message, but in this city it's a cliche'. Hillary Clinton's campaign rally ended with it last night at Penn and opened tonight's victory rally at the Park Hyatt.

 

    That's OK! Rocky was the underdog who fought back to become a champ! But, folks, college basketball is the better metaphor here. With all due respect to Coach K, Dean Smith, John Wooden, and even my beloved Al McGuire, there is one college coach whom I will admire more than the rest until the day I die.

 

    The late Jimmy Valvano at North Carolina State used to scream at his players until he was hoarse: "Don't give up! Don't ever give up." Valvano not only used that theme to take an underdog team to a national championship, but he also used it in his valiant fight against cancer.

 

    So tonight in the ballroom, as Hillary Clinton took the stage, I heard Valvano echo in my mind, and not Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was a movie; Jimmy V. was the "real deal." The New York Senator said, "The American people don't quit, and they deserve a president who doesn't quit." The crowd erupted.

 

    This is Sen. Clinton's best pitch at this point: a) The momentum is swinging her way; b) she can win in November; and C) she can fight like hell!

 

    It should also be noted the depth of some of her support.


Lydia Sanchez was here tonight from San Antonio, Texas. Sanchez is a longtime Clinton supporter and may be one of the few people in America who has the autographs of Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, all on one hat.

 

    The Latino vote has been strong for Clinton, another argument she makes as the better November candidate. As Sanchez said, "She understands much about Latinos. We think she's going to be able to do something for us!"  Sanchez described to me her three priorities as 1) health insurance 2) new education for kids, and 3) better worker benefits.

 

    Those wishes also went over with the union crowd and the senior citizens. Those are  two of the biggest groups responsible for the Clinton victory tonight - a win of 55 to 45, which was downright impressive. Exit polls indicate Sen. Clinton won 60 percent of voters who made up their minds in the past week. Once again, when the "undecideds" decide, it can make a huge difference.

 

 

    I had some great interviews in Pennsylvania with former White House Communications Director Ann Lewis and with Cleveland Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, two key players in the Clinton campaign. Tomorrow my blog will focus on their theories about how to win the nomination for Hillary Clinton.

 

    It's all at www.MarkCurtisMedia.blogspot.com.

 

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