Scott Bremner

Let me state the obvious up front.

As a reporter, I take no public stand supporting any candidate for U.S. President.

That said, I’m rooting for Hillary Clinton to win either Texas or Ohio or even both in the upcoming Democratic primaries.

If you are a fan of politics and a Pennsylvanian hoping for a front row seat, you should root for her too.

Here’s why:

With wins in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Barack Obama has both the delegate lead and the Big ‘Mo (momentum) to win the nomination.

Big wins in Ohio and Texas wouldn’t put him over the top but would get him close enough to take much of the wind out of the race’s sails.

The candidates would certainly campaign in Pennsylvania and spend ad money here but to some extent it would be more like football teams playing out the season already knowing who has made the playoffs.

But a key win in either Ohio or Texas would re-energize the Clinton campaign and make the two runners virtually neck-and-neck coming into the stretch drive.

With Pennsylvania being one of the last big delegate states left and sporting a two-week run-up with no other primaries in sight, the scene would be set and the spotlights would be focused squarely here.

“There’s no question Erie would be center stage,” super delegate Ian Murray told me.

What does that mean?

It would mean millions of ad dollars coming into the state, and yes, in the spirit of full disclosure that would mean a small windfall for my daytime employer.

But it would also mean that both camps would be all out; insiders predicting that both Obama and his wife would campaign in Erie as well as Clinton and her former president husband.

Other surrogate campaigners would appear as well, as both sides realize that a win in Pennsylvania would be the push either one would need to sweep them into the convention.

I’m an American and I have my personal beliefs, but professionally I’m more interested in a good fight rather than who wins or loses.

This year fate seems to be lining up to put us in the front row.