KO in PA: Clinton takes Obama

A Clinton victory Tuesday finally brought an end to the political sparring that Pennsylvania voters experienced for many weeks. Now they can rest in the silence.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - With so much time between primaries, the battle for Pennsylvania became a political fisticuffs over the past few weeks. After verbal left jabs and rights hooks, Hilary scored a knockout victory that could possibly go into double-digits over Obama.

The victory was not really a surprise, even for Barack Obama, who indicated early on that the victory would go to his opponent. Clinton consistently led in popularity in the Commonwealth by a wide margin. After expending a lot of personal energy and 11.2 million dollars in advertising, Obama narrowed the margin but could never overtake his adversary.

NBC projected Hilary the winner very early after the polls closed followed closely by Fox News, the Associated Press, and Politico.com. If they can hold a possible ten-point margin, the Clinton campaign would hope to gain new momentum and, hopefully, fresh funding for her withering war chest to keep in the fight.

Forecasting about her possible victory, Clinton spoke to reporters in Conshohocken, a suburb of Philadelphia, before the polls closed. "A win is a win," Clinton remarked. Addressing Obama's multi-million dollar media campaign, she said, "I think a win under these circumstances is a terrific accomplishment."

Exit polls showed that Hilary was strong among blue collar workers, the elderly, and white women. At one point several weeks ago she enjoyed a 20 point lead but that gradually narrowed to single digits.

Those leaving the polling places also indicated they were not happy with the way both candidates acted toward each other, but rated Clinton as being the worst at negative campaigning.

Pollsters also noted that 90 percent of the people interviewed firmly believed that the country was in a recession and that the economy was the number one problem.

The Pennsylvania Primaries also brought about major activity in registration changes as many voters opted to either change party affiliation from Republican to Democrat or chose to affiliate with the Democratic Party. Exit polls showed that almost ten percent had made the switch or declared this year, with the majority voting for Obama. McCain's lock on the Republican nomination gave the entire Pennsylvania spotlight to the Democratic runoff.

Voter turnout was heavy in the Tuesday primary with record numbers appearing at many polling places. To many who showed up to vote, they felt like they were dealing with the same crowds as in the national elections.

There are nine more primaries before the Democratic National Convention this summer. With 158 delegates at stake in Pennsylvania, Clinton is hoping that this victory will swing the tide for upcoming primaries in North Carolina and Indiana on May 6, where there is a larger combined delegate count.

A final nine point victory is the magic number for the New York Senator, in order to continue moving forward with some momentum. A larger margin would obviously give her greater leverage, but a final showing under 5 points would mean almost death to the campaign, even with a victory.

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