Opinion: Bill Clinton asks: Could you spare $5 please?

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It’s not for him, you understand. It’s for his poor wife, Hillary, the one who recently loaned herself $5 million. She needs it to compete with the Illinois money machine named Barack Obama, who’s already running his first TV ads in Pennsylvania.

And the message with that fundraising plea? Don’t let Obama wrap up the nomination in the Keystone State on April 22.

‘The Obama campaign is already on the air with their (sic) first ad in Pennsylvania, putting their (sic) fundraising advantage to work,’ Clinton writes in his latest e-mail money message. ‘They’re (sic) going to spend every dollar they’ve (sic) got to end this race in Pennsylvania, and we can’t let that happen.’

Clinton says his wife needs help to get on the air in Pennsylvania to match Obama’s spending advantage. ‘In Texas and Ohio, your incredible support kept us competitive, and today this race is close thanks to what you did for Hillary,’ Clinton writes.

‘Now the Obama campaign is going to do everything they (sic) can to try to beat Hillary in Pennsylvania. They’re (sic) going to try to outspend us 3-1 on the air -- and their (sic) first ads are already up and running’ he repeats.

Readers may not be surprised to discover that they can make a real difference. The former president says a contribution of as little as $5 would go a long way to evening the playing field before April 22.

Apparently Clinton didn’t have room in the e-mail to mention that, in point of fact, his wife currently enjoys a double-digit polling lead over Obama in Pennsylvania, as we reported here earlier today in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. It shows Clinton has actually widened her lead to 53 to 41, even without your money.

--Jill Zuckman

Jill Zuckman writes for the Swamp of the Chicago Tribune’s Washington Bureau.