Clinton the victor, the race for the Democratic nomination continues
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton saw a tremendous and much-needed boost after her campaign declared victory in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary late Tuesday night.
“I’m in this race to fight for you,” Clinton said in her victory speech to supporters in Philadelphia. “You know you can count on me to stand up strong for you every single day in the White House.”
Clinton won by a 10-point margin, giving her a substantial amount of Pennsylvania’s 158 pledged delegates.
Pennsylvanians flocked to the polls in record numbers to give Clinton the win over her close competition, Sen. Barack Obama.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. Eastern Time and closed at 8 p.m.
Results were too close to call early in the night, but around 8:30 projections for Clinton’s victory streamed across television stations and the Internet.
Nearly an hour later Clinton accepted victory.
“The tide is turning,” Clinton announced to her supporters.
Political strategists across the nation agreed Clinton needed a victory in Tuesday’s primary to remain a viable contender to Obama.
While Obama called a victory in Pennsylvania an “uphill climb” earlier during the week, turnout proved to be stronger than predicted for the senator from Illinois.
In a rally in Evansville, Ind., late Tuesday night, Obama congratulated Clinton for her victory.
“We rallied people of every age and race and background to the cause,” Obama said. “And whether they were inspired for the first time or for the first time in a long time, we registered a record number of voters, and it is those new voters who will lead our party to victory in November.”
Clinton captured the majority of older voters, ranging in age from 45-60.
Conversely, Obama pulled support from nearly two-thirds of the youth voters ages 18-24.
With the strategic Pennsylvania win behind her, many analysts say Clinton’s largest battles lie ahead.
Raising enough money to keep a substantial campaign alive against Obama appears to be one of the more troubling problems for Clinton.
However, Tuesday’s critical victory has given confidence to her supporters.
Hype for the Democratic results shadowed the results of presumed Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.
McCain won with 72 percent of the Republican vote, followed by Ron Paul, who won 16 percent, and Mick Huckabee with 12 percent.
Both Paul and Huckabee have withdrawn from the Republican race.
McCain’s actions in the past week have shown his attempts to cater to voters who normally would not vote for him.
McCain visited Gee’s Bend Monday, which is located in an overwhelmingly Democratic area of the state, and purchased three $2,500 quilts.
