"Look at what happened in Iowa and New Hampshire and other states with early primaries. Wouldn't it be more exciting to be part of that rather than sitting around and watching it on TV?" asked Rep. Harry A. Readshaw (D., Allegheny), who for the last eight years has pushed legislation for an earlier primary.
Still, the tightness of the Democratic and Republican races could give Pennsylvania its first chance in more than 30 years to have a voice in selecting a nominee, analysts say.
"Is that possibility hanging out there? Absolutely," said political scientist Larry Sabato, a national-politics expert at the University of Virginia. "But there's still a lot that needs to unfold for that to happen."
That would include Tuesday's tsunami of primaries, known as Super Tuesday. It's a day when 24 states, including California, New York and New Jersey, will send voters to the polls to select their choice for president. (New Jersey was one state that decided to move its primary up to February.)
If no clear victor emerges Tuesday - a likely scenario, particularly for the Democrats - Pennsylvania would be closer to a chance at playing the role of decider April 22.
Still, several other primaries, including ones in Texas and Ohio in early March, could steal the state's thunder.
"That's a lot of ifs - and buts - but given the circumstances that we find on the ground as we speak, it certainly is possible," said Chuck Ardo, spokesman for Gov. Rendell, who has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D., N.Y.).
Rendell, said Ardo, was among many Democrats who ardently supported legislation to move Pennsylvania's primary to February.
Their argument was straightforward: It would put the state in a position of influence, and make presidential candidates notice its people and its problems early on.
