USA - VOTE 2008
Back from the brink, Clinton wins Pennsylvania
Wednesday 23 April 2008
Hillary Clinton defeated Democratic rival Barack Obama in a tight Pennsylvania race, reviving her flagging White House hopes. (Report : M. MacCarthy)
Special Report The race to the White HouseWednesday 23 April 2008
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Hillary Clinton beat Democratic rival Barack Obama in the do-or-die Pennsylvania primary, rallying back – once again – from the brink of elimination in the 2008 White House race.
Addressing a rapturous crowd at her campaign headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest city, Clinton thanked the state’s voters for putting their faith in her.
“Some people counted me out and said I should drop out,” she said. “But the American people don’t quit and they deserve a person who doesn’t quit either,” she said as her supporters broke into a raucous chant of, “Yes, we will.”
Going in to the Pennsylvania primary, the stakes were particularly high for Clinton. Trailing behind Obama in delegate count as well as fund-raising tally, the former first lady needed to win Pennsylvania - a delegate-rich state with 188 delegates at stake - to keep her White House dreams alive.
In the end, she made it - leading by 55 percent to Obama's 45 percent with 99 percent of the vote counted, according to CNN.
All eyes on the delegate count
But Clinton’s Pennsylvania victory does not dramatically alter her disadvantage over Obama in the delegate race. While the delegate apportionment from Pennsylvania was still unclear, Democratic Party rules allow the losers in each state to win a proportional amount of delegates.
With nine more contests to go before the summer’s convention, the focus is increasingly turning to the 800 super delegates of senior and elected Democratic Party members who will have a critical say in the party’s nomination contest.
Reporting from Clinton’s campaign headquarters in Philadelphia, FRANCE 24’s Guillaume Meyer said the former first lady’s Pennsylvania victory was a measured one. “Psychologically, she does not come out of Pennsylvania with such a huge win that she can say to the Democratic Party, ‘look, I’m the strongest candidate and I deserve to be the candidate to beat John McCain in November,’” he said.
The Pennsylvania primary will be followed by contests in North Carolina - where Obama is leading the polls - and Indiana, May 6.
Next stop: Indiana and North Carolina
The Midwestern state of Indiana is likely to offer another tight fight for both candidates.
As if to underline the fact that the race for the Democratic nomination was not yet over, Obama delivered his Pennsylvania concession speech at a rally in Evansville, Indiana.
At a thumping address delivered minutes after Clinton’s victory speech, Obama congratulated his rival for running a “terrific race,” but he quickly went on to train his sights on the Republican presumptive candidate, John McCain.
"We can be a party that thinks the only way to look tough on national security is to talk, and act, and vote like George Bush and John McCain. We can use fear as a tactic, and the threat of terrorism to scare up votes," he said in a veiled dig at a recent Clinton ad that featured images of Osama bin Laden.
"Or we can be a party that says and does whatever it takes to win the next election,” he said.
The Keystone State
Nicknamed the “Keystone State,” Pennsylvania is the largest of the final 10 primary contests to choose the 2008 Democratic nominee. With 188 delegates at stake, Pennsylvania has been viewed as a big prize in the protracted fight for this year’s Democratic nomination.
The sixth largest US state, with a population of about 12.5 million people, Pennsylvania offers a mix of urban voters - concentrated in Philadelphia in the east and Pittsburgh in the west - as well as rural voters in between.
The eclectic demographic famously prompted James Carville, a Democratic political strategist, to describe Pennsylvania as: “Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west, and Alabama in between.”
The rural-urban divide was a key factor in the run-up to the primary, with both candidates putting in a gruelling campaign schedule to woo Pennsylvania’s voters.
Obama, who has proved popular with urban voters, has been battling the backlash from his controversial April 6 remark on “bitter” small towns “clinging to guns or religion.”
But he was back on the offensive just days before the Pennsylvania primary, criticizing a recent Clinton ad that featured images of Osama bin Laden and Hurricane Katrina while telling voters she ‘has what it takes” to be president.
The Obama campaign fought back with a message urging voters to “vote your hopes, not your fears.”
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