Obama camp: Clinton just 'lost her last, best chance'
(CNN) - Shortly after Hillary Clinton claimed a decisive victory in Pennsylvania Tuesday night, staffers for Barack Obama’s campaign sent reporters a memo in which they tried to argue once again that her win in the state had left the status quo fundamentally unchanged.
“Tonight, Hillary Clinton lost her last, best chance to make significant inroads in the pledged delegate count,” they wrote. “The only surprising result from Pennsylvania is that in a state considered tailor-made for Hillary Clinton that she was expected to win, Barack Obama was able to improve his standing among key voter groups since the Ohio primary.”
They said that Clinton’s lead over Obama with white voters had narrowed slightly, and her advantage among seniors had shrunk by nearly half - but that gap remained significant, at 24 percent. They pointed to Obama’s strength with Independent voters, a group that did not participate in Tuesday’s primary vote.
“The bottom line is that the Pennsylvania outcome does not change dynamic of this lengthy primary,” they wrote. “While there were 158 delegates at stake there, there are fully 157 up for grabs in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries on May 6.”
The Obama team had made similar arguments in the days leading up to Pennsylvania's primary, in which Clinton was favored despite being significantly outspent by the Illinois senator's campaign.
Clinton: 'You listened and today you chose'
(CNN) – Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed her Pennsylvania primary victory Tuesday night, telling Pennsylvanians that “you listened and today you chose.”
“It’s a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania,” Clinton also told her supporters as they cheered.
Clinton also said Tuesday that the “stakes are high and the challenges are great” but “the possibilities are endless.” The audience responded by co-opting a trademark phrase of Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign; Clinton supporters shouted “Yes she can! Yes she can!”
Clinton team claims campaign fundraising record
Hillary Clinton's campaign said that as of 11:30 p.m. ET Tuesday night, they had raised nearly $2.5 million since the state was called for the New York senator – what they called their "best night ever" - with 80 percent of that money coming from new donors.
Her campaign Web site is using her victory in a fundraising appeal that calls for $5 donations.
Obama congratulates Clinton
(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama said rival Sen. Hillary Clinton “ran a terrific race” as he conceded defeat in Pennsylvania’s Democratic primary Tuesday night.
The Illinois senator also thanked the Pennsylvanians who supported him in his bid to win a state whose demographics favored Clinton. “Now, six weeks later, we closed the gap,” Obama said to an audience in Evansville, Indiana that had initially booed when he congratulated Clinton.
“We registered a record number of voters and it is those new voters who lead our party to victory in November,” Obama added.
Analysis: Battle scars coming out of Pennsylvania
(CNN) – Watch CNN’s political team – the Best Political Team on TV and Online – as they discuss the possible fallout for Democrats from the hotly-contested Pennsylvania primary. Polling suggests that the loyalties of the supporters of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have only hardened after a six-week campaign in Pennsylvania that became progressively more negative as Tuesday night’s vote approached.
Watch Campbell Brown, John King, David Gergen, Roland Martin, and Gloria Borger weigh in on what it all may mean for the Democratic Party as they prepare to face Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
Clinton camp: 'There's still a long way to go'
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) - Camp Clinton, buoyed by its Pennsylvania victory, plans to take what worked here and take it on to Indiana and North Carolina.
Spokesman Mo Elleithee held a gaggle with reporters a short time ago. He said that said heading into the May 6 contests, the campaign would continue to push the themes that Hillary Clinton is the most equipped to be commander-in-chief and to lead the economy into recovery. He said the campaign would continue to raise questions about Sen. Barack Obama’s ability to beat Sen. John McCain in the fall.
Elleithee said Obama has built-in advantages in both North Carolina and Indiana, which he dubbed a “battleground.” Indiana’s proximity to Illinois makes him a known entity in much of that state and North Carolina boasts a large African-American population.
“There’s still a long way to go until a nominee is decided,” Elleithee said, noting the campaign feels very good about the upcoming contests in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon.
Is Obama shaping up to be another Dukakis?
(CNN) - Watch Chief National Correspondent John King provide a historical analysis of presidential primary results in Pennsylvania as he explains why the Clinton campaign may be trying to cast Sen. Barack Obama as another Michael Dukakis in the minds of the Democratic Party’s superdelegates.
Exit polls: College grads help Obama in PA
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/04/22/art.obamaschool.jpg caption="College graduates supported Obama in Pennsylvania's primary Tuesday."]
(CNN) - While Clinton has won the state of Pennsylvania, it appears she won't win it by as wide a margin as she did Ohio.
One reason for this appears to be the fact that the Democratic electorate in Pennsylvania includes more college-educated voters - a voting bloc that has reliably supported Obama.
In Ohio, only 38 percent of Democratic voters had a college degree - in Pennsylvania, 46 percent did.
Schneider responds to some of your comments
(CNN)— CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider was busy reporting exit polls for Tuesday night’s broadcast, and providing analysis for the Political Ticker – and he also took the time to respond to some of your comments here.
Exit polls: How did Clinton win?
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(CNN) - CNN just called the Pennsylvania primary race for Hillary Clinton. How did she win?
Her clear support from white voters and women. Both groups constituted large majorities in Tuesday's primary, and both voted for Clinton handily.
Whites made up over 80 percent of Pennsylvania Democrats. Clinton bested Obama among those voters by 20 points, 60 to 40 percent.
Women also constituted a clear majority of Pennsylvania primary voters – 56 percent. They voted for Clinton by a 12-point margin, 56 to 44 percent.
Another reason Clinton won? She beat Obama easily among late-deciders. Those voters who decided in the last three days went for the New York senator by a 15-point margin, 57 percent to 42 percent.
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