The only news out of the Pennsylvania Primary tonight is concerned with the Democratic race for the White House, as John McCain saddled into frontrunner status for the GOP nomination a long time ago. The question of most import on the Republican side now is when McCain will announce Mitt Romney as his pick for running mate. Regardless of who McCain chooses as his VP, you can rest assured that 2012 will be the year of Romney. Tonight, however, belongs to Hillary Clinton.
Clinton’s win gives her at least 66 more delegates for the party’s national convention. Obama still holds the overall lead in delegates. Here is analysis of the results from ABC News, and a supplemental report from the International Herald Tribune.
The conclusive victory in Pennsylvania was late-coming tonight, the vote lingering in the air for several hours as “too close to call.” A microcosm of the Democratic presidential contest it appears. Many commentators and political analysts (including at least some of Clinton’s own advisors) had declared Pennsylvania a “must-win” for Clinton, noting that even a substantial victory margin would merely put a dent in Obama’s significant lead in popular vote and number of delegates.
I had gotten my hopes up for the possibility of a Clinton withdrawal as early as tomorrow. Clearly that is not going to be the case. Who knows how much longer the Democratic race will be stretched out, or how much longer it can afford to. There is no doubt in my mind that the Pennsylvania vote will be interpreted in terms of race by many pundits and political prognosticators. Early exit polling data regarding the voting intentions of minority voters was used by some to paint a picture of racial division and phylogenic nepotism. News writeups on Pennsylvania keep referring to Clinton’s “hard fought” victory there. From where I’m sitting it’s hard to tell who’s doing what fighting, never mind the merits of each side’s efforts.
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