Primary’s just 1 topic on a.m. radio

Judging from the talk on morning radio, the Pennsylvania primary was on many minds - along with with the Flyers, and window washers dressed like Spiderman.

The sentiment was summed up by Michael Smerconish of WPHT (1210 AM, "The Big Talker"): "The night belonged to the Flyers, the Fightin' Phils, and Hillary, and not necessarily in that order."

"I felt so good just watching so many young people involved in the process," Chris Booker said on Q102 (102 FM). Maybe his show helped encourage that with its two Clinton interviews - in which the morning crew joked about Philly being "Hilladelphia."

Show producer Blaire Galaton described her first voting experience as "awful." The workers had trouble finding the paperwork that she'd registered as a Democrat, and then the machine didn't work.

Or maybe it was that she didn't push some button?

So they had her try voting again.

"Blair voted twice. That's why Hillary won!" said co-host Angi Taylor.

The waffle and sausage Obama left on a plate in Scranton got pulled by eBay when the bidding got up to $20,000, Booker said. (Some rule about no unpreserved food, apparently.)

But then it was on to the next quirky news story - about window washers in China wearing Spiderman outfits.

Even the sports talkers at WIP (610-AM) shoehorned in some primary talk the morning after the Flyers pulled off a series-deciding playoff win in overtime.

Big Daddy Graham, filling in for host Angelo Cataldi, introduced Larry Platt, editor of Philadelphia Magazine, and asked for primary insights.

"The thing that's surprising," Platt said of Hillary Clinton, "is she has sort of become the hero of the white working class. I don't know how the Clintons pulled this off. Ten years ago they were the yuppie scum. Now they're the shot-and-a-beer heroes."

He said Hillary Clinton was as relentless as the Reese Witherspoon character in Election.

"A classic case of winning ugly," said ex-Phillie pitcher Mitch Williams, another regular co-host.

If Clinton wins, what happens to the young voters who backed Obama? Platt wondered.

"They drink," Williams said.

The other big shock was Larry Farnese's win over John Doughterty in First District race for state senate, Platt said.

"I think it's an affirmation of the power of the Inquirer," said Platt, citing editorials and columns by Monica Yant Kinney.

Politics junkies, of course, got heartier heapings of punditry by turning to Michael Smerconish's show on "The Big Talker."

Smerconish was sorry the Pennsylvania primary was over. "I'm the only one who wanted this thing to go on for another six weeks!" he declared. "... What was the line from Trading Places? 'Turn the machines back on!' "

He rattled off a list of guest experts expected this morning. First up, Lanny Davis, once Bill Clinton's counsel in the White House.

Davis was spinning the Clinton win, insisting it proves Obama can't carry big states - even when he far outspends his opponent.

Davis scoffed at U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy's assertion on Larry King Live last night that Obama finished with momentum.

Of Obama's last-ditch commercials, he said, "Barack Obama ought to be ashamed that he went so negative."

Smerconish countered that Clinton is probably too far behind in delegates to win the nomination. "What is the happy ending for her?" he said.

Davis hammered away at electability, saying the Electoral College is what counts in the fall, so Clinton's big state clout makes her far more electable.

"What a pistol!" Smerconish said after the interview, saying he'd love to have Davis on with MSNBC's pugnacious Chris Matthews. "I'll just sit back and file my nails!"

A short listen-in to WMMR's Preston & Steve show caught only the usual mix of music and zany matter. The topic of the moment - fetishes - covered sneezing ("It's a whole subculture," Preston said), licking eyeballs, swallowing action-figure heads, and burping.

Even though Obama and Clinton had both done interviews on the program this month, the primary didn't come up today, producer Nick Nick McIlwain said later.