I’m going to continue (for a while) the chronicling of the Biden-can-win-Pennsylvania-for-Obama myth. For those who didn’t yet read my comments on this issue from yesterday, here’s a paragraph:

So what am I trying to say here? That Biden will not help Obama in PA? I can’t say that, especially not when so many experts say the opposite. All I’m really saying is this: tell us how you know that Biden’s selection means Obama can take PA.

Here’s the Hartford Courant keeping the flame alive today:

Perhaps most important is this: Biden is an asset in the bellwether Philadelphia suburbs, which will decide Pennsylvania and possibly the nation.

The man who rides Amtrak home to Delaware after a day of Senate business is sometimes referred to as Pennsylvania’s third senator, both for his continued proximity and his Scranton roots.

How do they know that Biden is so popular in PA? They do not say. But myths like this have the tendency to grow, by force of repetition. Here it is the Washington Post:

The Pennsylvania delegation gathered in a suite at a Marriott on Sunday night, but delegates rarely mentioned Obama’s name. It’s Joe Biden who could win the election in Pennsylvania, they said.

So now arguing with the myth is arguing about Pennsylvania with the delegation of Pennsylvanians! And who would know better, right? But again: where is the evidence that Biden is popular in PA?

The latest polls in Pennsylvania gave Obama a 3-9 point lead over McCain in the state–the more serious of them (Quinnipiac) giving him a 7% lead at the end of July. Thus, measuring the “Biden effect” in this state will be tricky: a bounce is expected because of the convention, but we will have to wait and see if the bounce in PA is more significant the one in other, similar states. And even if it is, one has to wonder: was it really Biden helping Obama–or is it the Biden-myth, created and nurtured by the press, that convinced PA voters that they should be pleased by Biden’s selection?