The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

Political Hay

(Page 2 of 2)

Obama, tellingly, was in Evansville, Indiana last night, his schedulers having essentially conceded Pennsylvania before the voting started.

In her victory speech, backed up by supporters sporting boxing gloves, Clinton showed no signs of throwing in the towel. "Some people counted me out and said to drop out, but the American people don't quit and they deserve a president who doesn't quit either," she boasted.

While Clinton scored a much-needed win last night, it wasn't large enough to change the dynamics of the race. As of this writing, Clinton's victory margin in Pennsylvania was hovering at just under 10 points.

While the precise delegate breakdown is not yet clear, her failure to achieve a blowout means that she still trails Obama by well over 100 delegates with just over 400 delegates to be awarded in the remaining Democratic primaries.

Her solid but not stellar win also makes it unlikely that Clinton will be able to catch Obama in the crucial popular vote. Of the states remaining, North Carolina on May 6 is the biggest prize with 115 delegates, and Obama should win comfortably there, eating into gains Clinton made Tuesday.

When Indiana votes the same day, it will be a much more even match, and Clinton will have her last chance to embarrass Obama with a win in his neighboring state, although a win there wouldn't change the math.

But while Clinton marches on, her money woes may catch up with her. Her campaign is currently over $10 million in debt. In her victory speech, Clinton acknowledged her financial disadvantage, and made a desperate plea for supporters to visit her campaign Website and make a donation.

The next few days will be a good indicator of whether Clinton's fans have as much fight left in them as the woman herself. Another question mark is how much of their fortune she and Bill will be willing to spend on the campaign.

THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY faces the same dilemma it has for over two months. On the one hand, Clinton is all but mathematically eliminated under the rules she agreed to at the start of the process.

For superdelegates to nominate her would not only alienate black voters who make up the party's most loyal voting group, but turn off a new generation of young voters that has been inspired by Obama. Exit polls consistently show that Clinton's level of support decreases among each successively younger age group.

However, the results of Pennsylvania reinforce the fact that Obama has consistently underperformed in large swing states, and among working class voters who will be crucial to the party's chances of winning in November.

Democrats started off the year believing that the election would be a cakewalk. But it's looking more and more like a quagmire.

topics:
Hillary Clinton, Religion