The Washington Post

Clinton Tops Obama in Pennsylvania Primary

The Washington Post reported a victory for Sen. Clinton in Pennsylvania tonight over Sen. Obama. This is Clinton's fourth victory in the last five contests in the Democratic presidential race.

With more than 80 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton held a 10-point lead over Obama; a margin of victory large enough to keep her in the race. Prior to this result, Clinton's closest aids said that if Sen. Clinton had not won by double-digits, they would advise her to drop out of the race.

"It's a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania," Clinton said at a victory rally in Philadelphia tonight.

Sen. Obama responded to the loss by stating that, "There were a lot of folks who didn't think we could make this a close race when it started," he said. "But we worked hard, and we traveled across the state to big cities and small towns, to factory floors and VFW halls. And now, six weeks later, we closed the gap."

The demographic of Pennsylvania proved largely in favor of Clinton. Much of her success was accredited to this. Women comprised nearly six in ten voters and Clinton won that group, 56 percent to 44 percent, according to updated exit polling. Obama claimed the male vote by a slightly smaller margin of seven.

As has been the case almost since the beginning of the primary season, the vote was divided starkly along racial lines. Clinton won the white vote, 60 percent to 40 percent, while Obama claimed the black vote by a massive 92 percent to eight percent margin. White voters made up more than 80 percent of today's electorate while black voters comprised 13 percent.

With the race so close now and the democratic nomination on the line, the number of, and intensity of, nasty adds are increasing. Clinton questioned Obama's readiness to handle a crisis as the commander-in-chief and Obama answered back with an add touting his own judgment in opposing the Iraq war from the start and condemning Clinton's tactics. "Who made the right judgment about opposing the war and had the courage and character to speak honestly about it?" he said.