A blog for The Chronicle to cover the 2008 presidential election, of which Hofstra University plays a unique part as host of one of the presidential debates. Students will cover the election in real time.

April 23, 2008

Clinton wins Pennsylvania, vows to fight on


Hillary Clinton delivers her victory speech in Philadelphia after winning the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday night, after six weeks of campaigning in the state. (Video provided by MSNBC.com)

By Mike Manzoni
Staff Writer

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) won the Pennsylvania primary Tuesday night, after a six-week stretch between contests, claiming a state she had designated earlier in the day as one she had to win.

"It's a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania," she told a crowd of supporters at a victory speech in Philadelphia.

While her campaign says her victory questions Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) electability in the general election, she offered some comparison between the two competing Democratic camps.

Clinton said she and Obama are "on this journey together," while she was joined on stage with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and her husband, President Bill Clinton, and their daughter Chelsea.

Exit polls indicate she received support of voters age 65 and older and that Obama garnered the votes of the black electorate with nearly 92 percent of the African-American vote.

A majority of white males, 55 percent according to a CNN exit poll, voted for Clinton.

Knowing the demographics were not in his favor, Obama moved his campaign to Indiana early today, a state that holds its primary May 6.

"A win is 50 plus one. So, if Sen. Clinton gets over 50 percent, she's won the state and, you know, I don't try to pretend that I enjoy getting 45 percent and that's a moral victory -- we've lost the state," Obama said before leaving Pennsylvania for Indiana.

Obama still leads the delegate count with 1,720 to Clinton's 1,588, according to Associated Press estimates.

Her victory in the Keystone State will allow her to receive most of the state's 158 delegates.

According to Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes, voter turnout was a record, with between 50 and 60 percent turnouts in some counties.

About four million people are registered to vote in Pennsylvania.

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