(CNN) - It's one little point that's making for a whole lot of discussion. Was it 9 points or was it 10? That’s the question many people are asking about Hillary Clinton’s margin of victory over Barack Obama in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Primary.
According to the most up-to-date vote totals from the Associated Press - used by all networks and national news organizations - Clinton won 1,260,208 votes in Pennsylvania to Obama’s 1,045,444. If you break it down by percentages, that’s 54.65 percent for Clinton and 45.34 percent for Obama. If you round up the Clinton number to 55 percent and the Obama number is rounded down to 45 percent, you get a ten point margin of victory for Clinton.
But if the difference between 45.34 and 54.65 is 9.31 percent - the margin of victory for Clinton - the result should be rounded down to nine percent.
Got it?
(Updated numbers after the jump)
Why does this matter? Maybe because the candidates spent six long weeks campaigning in Pennsylvania, and because so many political pundits said Clinton needed to win Pennsylvania by double digits to keep her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination alive.
But regardless of the margin of victory in Pennsylvania, the race has now moved on to Indiana and North Carolina, the next battlegrounds in the road to the White House.
UPDATE: As the count in Pennsylvania continues, Clinton's margin has edged up slightly. According to the latest tally released by the Associated Press, she now has 1,260,416 votes, or 54.7 percent of the total; Obama has 1,045,910 votes, or 45.3 of the total. That makes the current margin of victory for Clinton 9.4 percent, which still rounds down to a 9-point victory.
From CNN Politics
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Clinton didn't get a double-digit win she knows that as well but she is NOT a preson I wont in the white house. Her words are all lie's. 1,260,208 votes in Pennsylvania to Obama’s 1,045,444 what a close race Obama close the gap big time... To me seem as if the something is worng with this count any way....
Obama 2009.... YES We CAN
If u look at it from her view it's a nine point win . But if u look at it from his point of view he was 4.5 percent from a tie on her home turf
The amount Obama spent campaigning has no bearing on the results. Just because he spent more does not mean his 9.31% loss is bigger or smaller than 9.31%. Of course HRC is grasping to more pointless details that don't amount to anything.
Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics, Politics!
The News Media, shameful.
Report the facts, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS..
What's the problems?
Looking for more t-shirts to talk about.
Obama 08
Double digits? More popular votes? Won Texas? Bullets flying? Bless her heart. She's not Rocky, she's Wonder Woman!
Who cares?
The fact is she won by 9%, and considering that she was up by like 20% weeks before the vote, I say Barack did an awesome job. She needed to have a big double digit win and she did not get it, simple as that. Barack is the best candidate and it looks like the superdelegates are starting to see that. Since her so called victory in PA, three superdelegates have come out in support of Barack. Keep up the good work Barack!!
Obama '08
9%
that's what I see
The reporting of the difference should be just the same as all the primaries before this one. If they rounded the votes %'s to the nearest whole number before then they should do it again. What a waste of time to even discuss. Obama got soundly defeated in PA, whether it's 9% or 10%. I'm sure he'll get a measure of payback in NC. Not sure what will happen in IN.
Honestly.... Who cares!?!
Before Pennsylvania, it was determined that Hillary needed to win every remaining state with 65% support in order to catch up to Obama. Pennsylvania was her biggest, best chance, and she only won with 54.65%....not enough. Now she needs to get over 70% of every remaining state. After North Carolina, that number will jump up over 80%.
The candidates are exhausted, the party is getting more and more divided, and the Republicans are getting their upcoming talking points from the Democrats. It's time to rally around the candidate who will be winning the Democratic nomination, and it's clear at this point that the nominee will be Obama. How is it that Democrats can find a way to implode every single time? Hillary should grow up and do what's best for the country instead of what's best for her for a change.
While I do think it is a 9 pt victory rather than a 10pt, I do have a question if anyone can answer. Why, 2 days later, does Philadlphia not have all of their voting reported?
Why are 100% of the votes still not tabulated?
Lets give her the 10 pt win she needs it. She wins the big states. She is winning in popular vote. She is bringing together a coalition.
It does not change this nomination. She now needs to consider how she wants the Clinton legacy to be remembered.
Obama camp is worried about a % point but not about 2+ million people in Fl and MI... Such unity!!!!
Wow, someone that knows how to do math correctly. The correct way is to subtract the actual percentages, then round up or down the results. That is basic math, the other way of rounding up or down the actual percentages then subtracting is what is know as the lazy mans math. Lets be correct when we play with numbers people, we must set the correct example to those children that are in school. It may be more difficult to do for those that can't do it without a caculator, but it is the correct way.
I think the whole thing is silly. Saying 9 or 10 percent doesn't matter; what matters is the delegate count. I think people are smart enough to figure out that Clinton won (comfortably) but remains behind significantly in the delegate count and needs help from superdelegates if she is to win the nomination.
The fact that it is between 9 and 10 simply means that Clinton will use 10 and Obama will use 9.
She's not going to quit anyway... Especially since she's now claiming to be ahead in the Popular Vote. Ridiculous... Of course she is, Obama wasn't even on the ballott in Michigan which shows just how much of a fantasitic and improbable campaign he is runnning despite the slip-ups along the way.
Obama '08
Of course it wasn't a double digit win. Do the math. Another Clinton lie.
are you trying to please the Obamabots. Stop the biases CNN!!!
It's all your faul
HILLARY 08
Sorry Hillary but the final count was actually 9.7 percent, but since when does the truth matter. Spin Spin Spin.
Clinton is going to keep fighting to the end, it doesn't matter if it was a 10%, 9% or 9.31%
Obama should have put her away by now, letting this drag on only places more doubt on Obama's electability.
I think whoever comes out of this will be President, because McCain is carring too much Bush baggage, without the same base of support that Bush had namely the Religious Right and the Extreme Right.
You morons have egg on your face–and this is the best you can do? Run a story on it? How about a retraction for making false headlines–on purpose.
The news that reported that she won by 10 points is misleading and that's the way the Clinton's want it. She did not win by the margin that she needed and by rounding it up, it makes it look like Obama didn't stop her which he did. The Clinton's also is trying to play down the fact that she had Obama by a 20 point lead a few weeks before the primaries. So in fact she is the one that slipped not Obama. Even some of the Superdelegates in PA said they are not going to back her just yet which goes to show even though we knew she would win PA because she had the advantage in the first place, so I don't know why she is trying to make out like she made any headway because she didn't and the media and the Clinton's and their pondents are acting like PA was a bigger deal than it was. I wonder why the news is not reporting that over 20 of the Top aids of John Edwards are now backing Senator Obama and he has also gained 2 more superdelegates from Oregan.
You know what, 10% or 9% is essentialy meaningless. The # of delegate left is 408 and Hillary has 1586 right now, even if she wins everyone of them she can't make it to 2025. She will have less than 2000 you know.
Senator Obama has about 1750 and needs only about 250 and he wins it.
This doesn't matter... we all know Clinton is doomed!!
Obama 08