By — PBS NewsHour PBS NewsHour Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/politics-jan-june08-paprimary_04-22 Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Clinton Fights on after Much-Needed Pa. Victory Politics Apr 22, 2008 11:35 PM EDT “It’s fair to say she had the entire political establishment in the state,” syndicated columnist Mark Shields said Tuesday night on the NewsHour. “He had the money. There was a kind of parity of resources.” In the six weeks since the Mississippi contest, Clinton worked to show her blue collar bona fides in the Keystone State and highlight her Pennsylvania family roots — and went on to win more of the blue-collar workers, women and white men in an election where the economy was the dominant concern. Obama, meanwhile, was favored by black voters, the affluent and those who recently switched to the Democratic Party, a group that comprised about one in 10 Pennsylvania voters, according to the surveys conducted by The Associated Press and TV news networks. “The future of this campaign is in your hands,” Clinton told supporters at a Philadelphia victory rally. “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. Because of you, the tide is turning.” On Earth Day, Clinton proposed creating more “green jobs” to kick-start the flagging economy and help minimize climate change. “We’re going to end the war on science and have a renewed commitment to science and research,” she said. Clinton ended her speech by co-opting Obama’s “Yes, we can” slogan into a more determined “Yes, we will.” Obama’s most politically powerful supporter in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey, said the Illinois senator managed to cut into Clinton’s polling lead, which was well into the double digits as recently as the beginning of April. “I think Sen. Obama — when he is the nominee — will do very well with those groups that Sen. Clinton is strong with,” Casey told CNN. “I think he did a world of good to talk about health care, to talk about his message of change, the price of gasoline, the mortgage crisis.” New York Times columnist David Brooks said on the NewsHour Tuesday that Obama’s campaign needs to shift back to him being a “hope-meister” after a divisive battle in Pennsylvania. “I don’t know whether he senses vulnerability and just wants to finish Clinton off or whether the campaign is sincerely worried, but they have certainly shifted their whole image in the past couple of weeks,” he said. Obama indeed appeared to shift back to his message of hope and change during a speech late Tuesday in Evansville, Ind. He congratulated Clinton on running a good campaign in Pennsylvania, but touted how his campaign closing the polling gap and said that the energy his campaign created there will help Democrats in the November general election. Much of his speech focused on general election issues (“Two wars, an economy in recession and a planet in peril”) and targeted presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain’s association with the Iraq war and President Bush “Real change doesn’t begin in the halls of Washington but on the streets of America,” Obama said. “It doesn’t happen from the top-down, but from the bottom-up.” Regardless of the margin of victory in Pennsylvania, “I think a win is a win,” Shields told the NewsHour, adding that the Pennsylvania primary was the cleanest test to date. “If you think about it, we’ve had six weeks for this campaign,” he said. “And there’s been no intervening clatter of political attention. There’s no gubernatorial race going on. There’s no senatorial race in Pennsylvania. And I just think this is a clean test. Each candidate knew what he or she had to do. And so I think the results cannot be taken lightly.” Flush with cash, Obama reported spending $11.2 million on television in the state, more than any other place. That compared with $4.8 million for Clinton. However, the tone of the prolonged Pennsylvania campaign was increasingly personal — to the delight of Republicans and McCain, who has been reportedly gaining in national polls. With the Democratic race projected to last through June, Obama’s campaign appears to be more fiscally sounds. He is spending 75 cents for every dollar he is taking in while Clinton is spending $1.10, The New York Times reported. After heaping attention on Pennsylvania, the Democrats will begin salivating over the 187 delegates at play in Indiana’s and North Carolina’s May 6 primaries, but Guam holds its caucuses for 11 delegates three days before that. The other remaining Democratic primaries include Oregon, Kentucky, West Virginia, Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico. Clinton won at least 52 delegates to the party’s national convention, with 60 still to be awarded. Obama won at least 46, according to an initial analysis of election returns by The AP. Shields predicted that people from Obama’s home state of Illinois will begin to flood into Indiana to campaign on his behalf, much like Massachusetts Democrats historically have done in New Hampshire. With Indiana shaping up to be the next big battleground, both campaigns used favorite son John Mellencamp’s music in their Tuesday speeches. Mellencamp, who used to support former Sen. John Edwards, appeared with Obama Tuesday night, but has appearances with Clinton scheduled as well. Clinton is scheduled to begin Wednesday by appearing on six network and cable news morning shows, followed by a campaign rally in Indianapolis. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, heads to North Carolina for a handful of events. McCain will host a town hall meeting in Inez, Ky. By — PBS NewsHour PBS NewsHour
“It’s fair to say she had the entire political establishment in the state,” syndicated columnist Mark Shields said Tuesday night on the NewsHour. “He had the money. There was a kind of parity of resources.” In the six weeks since the Mississippi contest, Clinton worked to show her blue collar bona fides in the Keystone State and highlight her Pennsylvania family roots — and went on to win more of the blue-collar workers, women and white men in an election where the economy was the dominant concern. Obama, meanwhile, was favored by black voters, the affluent and those who recently switched to the Democratic Party, a group that comprised about one in 10 Pennsylvania voters, according to the surveys conducted by The Associated Press and TV news networks. “The future of this campaign is in your hands,” Clinton told supporters at a Philadelphia victory rally. “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. Because of you, the tide is turning.” On Earth Day, Clinton proposed creating more “green jobs” to kick-start the flagging economy and help minimize climate change. “We’re going to end the war on science and have a renewed commitment to science and research,” she said. Clinton ended her speech by co-opting Obama’s “Yes, we can” slogan into a more determined “Yes, we will.” Obama’s most politically powerful supporter in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey, said the Illinois senator managed to cut into Clinton’s polling lead, which was well into the double digits as recently as the beginning of April. “I think Sen. Obama — when he is the nominee — will do very well with those groups that Sen. Clinton is strong with,” Casey told CNN. “I think he did a world of good to talk about health care, to talk about his message of change, the price of gasoline, the mortgage crisis.” New York Times columnist David Brooks said on the NewsHour Tuesday that Obama’s campaign needs to shift back to him being a “hope-meister” after a divisive battle in Pennsylvania. “I don’t know whether he senses vulnerability and just wants to finish Clinton off or whether the campaign is sincerely worried, but they have certainly shifted their whole image in the past couple of weeks,” he said. Obama indeed appeared to shift back to his message of hope and change during a speech late Tuesday in Evansville, Ind. He congratulated Clinton on running a good campaign in Pennsylvania, but touted how his campaign closing the polling gap and said that the energy his campaign created there will help Democrats in the November general election. Much of his speech focused on general election issues (“Two wars, an economy in recession and a planet in peril”) and targeted presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain’s association with the Iraq war and President Bush “Real change doesn’t begin in the halls of Washington but on the streets of America,” Obama said. “It doesn’t happen from the top-down, but from the bottom-up.” Regardless of the margin of victory in Pennsylvania, “I think a win is a win,” Shields told the NewsHour, adding that the Pennsylvania primary was the cleanest test to date. “If you think about it, we’ve had six weeks for this campaign,” he said. “And there’s been no intervening clatter of political attention. There’s no gubernatorial race going on. There’s no senatorial race in Pennsylvania. And I just think this is a clean test. Each candidate knew what he or she had to do. And so I think the results cannot be taken lightly.” Flush with cash, Obama reported spending $11.2 million on television in the state, more than any other place. That compared with $4.8 million for Clinton. However, the tone of the prolonged Pennsylvania campaign was increasingly personal — to the delight of Republicans and McCain, who has been reportedly gaining in national polls. With the Democratic race projected to last through June, Obama’s campaign appears to be more fiscally sounds. He is spending 75 cents for every dollar he is taking in while Clinton is spending $1.10, The New York Times reported. After heaping attention on Pennsylvania, the Democrats will begin salivating over the 187 delegates at play in Indiana’s and North Carolina’s May 6 primaries, but Guam holds its caucuses for 11 delegates three days before that. The other remaining Democratic primaries include Oregon, Kentucky, West Virginia, Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico. Clinton won at least 52 delegates to the party’s national convention, with 60 still to be awarded. Obama won at least 46, according to an initial analysis of election returns by The AP. Shields predicted that people from Obama’s home state of Illinois will begin to flood into Indiana to campaign on his behalf, much like Massachusetts Democrats historically have done in New Hampshire. With Indiana shaping up to be the next big battleground, both campaigns used favorite son John Mellencamp’s music in their Tuesday speeches. Mellencamp, who used to support former Sen. John Edwards, appeared with Obama Tuesday night, but has appearances with Clinton scheduled as well. Clinton is scheduled to begin Wednesday by appearing on six network and cable news morning shows, followed by a campaign rally in Indianapolis. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, heads to North Carolina for a handful of events. McCain will host a town hall meeting in Inez, Ky.