Woo hoo! Hillary is a heavyweight who can take a punch and win the big matches.
With 99% of the precincts reporting, Clinton won 55% to Obama's 45%. PAers went double-digit for Hillary. In big-swing state PA, Obama outspent Clinton 3-to-1 with $12 million in advertising and he campaigned in PA for six weeks. But she still took the state. She's a tough fighter. White blue-collar voters love her, having voted for her in large numbers, and I think they did because they identify with her grit, feel good about Clinton's strength on the economy. I don't accept the spin that these voters are largely racists.
During CNN's primary coverage John King compared Obama to Democratic nominee Gov. Dukakis, whom Poppy Bush defeated in PA in 1988, the last time a Democrat lost the state in a general election. Uh-oh. Bob Somerby of The Daily Howler predicted the media would Dukakis-ize Obama. King also said Hillary "thumped Obama" in PA. "She won the elderly vote, she won the Catholic vote... an impressive demographic and geographic sweep." She won lunch-bucket Reagan Democrats. Oh, my... that reality must have gotten superdelegates' attention.
Bucks County, where 5% of PA's population lives, broke large for Hillary. Montgomery and Lackawanna also boomed for Hillary. Bill Schneider of CNN related Hillary's win to neighboring NJ and OH, states she also won by 10%, perhaps a harbinger of what may happen in adjacent IN, WV, and KY.
The dang CNN pundit heads, David Gergen et al, said if the superdelegates give the nod to Hillary, the decision would mobilize African Americans to leave the party and anger young voters. Puh-leeze. Thank goodness Clinton supporter Paul Begalas weighed in and said, nah! Oh, no. That won't happen. Gergen later came back saying Obama's "bitter" comments hurt him in PA. What the heck do pundits know? They have written Hillary off... how many times now?
When Hillary took the victory stage, she was welcomed by chants of, "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!" During her speech, Hillary said the "road to Pennsylvania Avenue runs through Pennsylvania!" She's "ready to lead on Day One." And the crowd roared, "Yes, she can! Yes, she can! Yes, she can!"
A few of Hillary's remarks: "You know, some people counted me out and said to drop out. But the American people... the American people don't quit, and they deserve a president who doesn't quit, either.... And you deserve a champion who stands with you.... And, of course, all across the world, our men and women in uniform, some on your second, third, or fourth tour of duty, you deserve a commander-in-chief who will finally bring you home..." An inspiring speech, the transcript is here.
CNN reported at 12:13 AM that HillaryClinton.com had raised more than $2.5 million within the past two hours.
Counting both FL and MI, Hillary moved ahead of Obama in the popular vote tally. She garnered 200,000+ in PA--1,250,193 to Obama's 1,035,361 votes--with 1% outstanding.
Still more primaries ahead in NC, IN (May 6), WV (May 13), KY, OR (May 20), Puerto Rico (Jun. 1), SD, MT (Jun. 3), and a caucus in Guam that comes up next (May 3). So send Hillary some love.
Yaaaaaaaaaa-hooooooooooo! The nomination is still up for grabs. Obama may have the pledged delegate lead, having won a lot of small states (some of which won't turn Democratic), his home state, and caucuses that disenfranchised working-class voters... but he can't close big battleground states like PA and OH. And don't forget MI and FL.
Superdelegates and the DNC need to reconsider the Cuomo Dream Ticket proposal with Clinton at the top. Obama is still too green. He would, however, make a great choice for veep helping to rebuild the damage done by Bush, working to win over voters who are Hillary supporters. Democrats could possibly hold onto the WH for 16 years.
OMG! What a history-making ticket: Clinton-Obama 2008. Democrats would win by a landslide, IMO, and shore up down-ticket races. Sure would love to see the number of Senate Democrats rise to 60.
POSTSCRIPT: Newsmax/Zogby poll was wrong unless one gave credence to John Zogby's conditional footnote as I did. H/t to TalkLeft for PA county info.
UPDATE: Heard conflicting reports about how much Obama spent on ads in PA. NYTimes reported: "In March, in the run-up to the Pennsylvania vote, the Obama campaign spent $31 million, compared with $22 million by the Clinton campaign. A large part of that went into television advertisements. According to CMAG, a firm that tracks television advertising, the Obama campaign spent $11 million on campaign commercials from March 18 to April 16, compared with the Clinton campaign’s $4.5 million."
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