Hillary Gets Her Double Digits

Hillary defeated Obama in the Pennsylvania primary by double digits, 55% to 45%.

In her victory celebration,  Hillary made it clear that, with her Pennsylvania victory, the brawl between her and Obama will continue:

“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,” Mrs. Clinton said to fervent cheers and applause at her victory party... ."

The Pennsylvania primary seems to have failed to settle anything:

Both candidates performed strongly among the same constituencies that have supported them in other primary states. Mr. Obama was backed overwhelmingly by black voters and also scored well among voters younger than 45 and college graduates, the results show.

Once again Obama was unable to close the deal. Obama, as in other primaries, appeared to grasp defeat from the jaws of victory. Even with Obama's huge money advantage, record breaking advertising, and the mainstream media admittedly suffering from Obamamania, he continues to fail to land a knock out blow. One has to ask why Obama can't win the big ones.

Tim Russert discusses what he thinks might happen next in the following video:

The spin doctors will be very busy trying to convince all of us, and more important, the Democrat's superdelegates why Hillary or Obama is entitled to the nomination. But as the battle for the Democratic nomination moves to Indiana and North Carolina, Hillary's goal still seems out of reach. Hillary's campaign is out out money and some party officials would like to see her quit. As Mark Z. Barabak and Noam N. Levey write in the Los Angeles Times, it still comes down to the math:

Mathematically, with just nine contests left, it appears virtually impossible for Clinton to overtake Obama in the popular vote and among pledged delegates -- those chosen in primaries and caucuses. Her best hope was to instill enough doubts about Obama to persuade the 300 or so uncommitted superdelegates to rally to her side.

Hillary will battle on as long as she can find the resources to do so. The bottom line here is that the big winner of the Pennsylvania primary is Senator McCain. He is out running a positive and optimistic campaign, as poll after poll finds that no matter which one of the Democrats survives to challenge him in November, theat Democrat will have a serious deserter problem.