ONEONTA _ In a meeting with The Daily Star's editorial board Thursday, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Pennsylvania Democratic primary on April 22 could be decisive in deciding the Democratic presidential candidate.
"In many years, Democrats have said, Of all people, how'd they pick this guy to be our candidate?'" Schumer said. "I do believe that this time we have two very good candidates."
Schumer said he would be for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., "in a minute" if Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., were not his friend and he did not think she was the better candidate.
"I think he's the real deal," Schumer said.
Obama has the advantage of having a broad reach and being fresh to the political scene, he added.
But backing Clinton is an easy choice, Schumer said.
"The congressional district I live in voted for Hillary. The state I live in voted for Hillary. And I'm for Hillary," Schumer said. "I'll be the last one to abandon her.
"Hillary has been on the scene for 20 years," Schumer said.
Schumer said the attacks that Clinton faces from opponents are a known quantity, but that's not true for Obama, who was elected to the Senate in 2004.
"Three weeks ago, we didn't know about the pastor," Schumer said, referring to the controversy over comments by Obama's former pastor Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.
Recent national polls place Clinton above Obama because of the pastor, Schumer said.
"Who knows what else is out there?" Schumer said.
Schumer dismissed a suggestion that a Clinton Democratic nomination would be a more motivating factor for Republicans to turn out to vote.
"When they attack him ... they may be just as motivated," Schumer said.
Clinton may also be the candidate best-suited to deflecting the attacks from the GOP that would come during the general election, he said.
"When they take out the 2-by-4 and hit our candidate, we know she'll hit back and know how to hit back, and I am not sure that (Obama) does know," Schumer said.
When asked if Clinton should withdraw from the race for the benefit of Democratic Party unity, Schumer said he would answer the question indirectly.
"I think I am like 99 percent of all Hillary supporters and 99 percent of Obama supporters," Schumer said. "It is more important for us to win the general election than to have our candidate prevail in the Democratic primary. I wouldn't rule out anything because we want to win."
Schumer referred to an opinion piece by Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen that appeared in the New York Times on Wednesday that suggested a possible solution to a stalemate at the August convention: Have the nearly 800 Democratic superdelegates convene and settle on a candidate after April 22.
"He said, right after Pennsylvania, all superdelegates should get together and decide as a block. That would do it," Schumer said.
Obama leads Clinton among delegates whose vote was determined by primaries or caucuses, 1,404 to 1,249, while Clinton leads 250-213 among superdelegates who have announced a choice, according to the Associated Press. To secure the nomination, a candidate needs 2,025 delegates.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.
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