Hillary defied the odds and the pundits and went on to win Pennsylvania by double digits yesterday. Sure she had a significant lead a few weeks ago, but that was before the media, the press and the DNC hot-shots (Donna Brazile) and leading members of Congress joined Obama's full court press in a failed attempt to force her out of this campaign before millions of voters got to have their say, or before we got to her strongest group of supporters in Pennsylvania. Many of those voters are working stiffs who can relate to her message of rebuilding our economy and restoring the strength of the middle class (translated... jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs and more jobs). They're hurting and they know she's the one who'll deliver on the issues they care about.
It was also before she was outspent by her opponents by a margin of 3 to 1 - by $7 million on tv ads alone. This on top of the fact that he had 6 weeks to whittle away - wipe out her lead as the supposed front-runner. He even used massively negative mailers, radio ads and even TV ads.
Guys this win last night has put her in the lead in the popular vote. Thanks to her victory in Pennsylvania yesterday, Hillary now leads by approximately 122,000 in the popular vote when Florida and Michigan are included in the count. After last night's decisive victory in Pennsylvania, more people have voted for Hillary than any other candidate, including Sen. Obama.
Estimates vary slightly, but according to Real Clear Politics, Hillary has received 15,095,663 votes to Sen. Obama's 14,973,720, a margin of more than 120,000 votes. ABC News reported this morning that "Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama" in the popular vote. Check it out...
I've been wondering something for a while and it looks like the press and the media are starting to (finally!) ask about it too. I know a few folks have posted things about this already today but I found this AP article interesting - here's an excerpt...
Analysis: Obama still struggling to win key constituencies
Why can't Barack Obama close the deal?snip
The loss, despite a massive cash infusion and robust campaign presence in the state, underscores the persistent problems he's had winning over many of the voters who form the traditional Democratic party base.
While the Illinois senator remains overwhelmingly popular among blacks, affluent voters and young people, other groups key to building the Democratic coalition remain elusive.
Clinton bested him among white, blue-collar voters by a margin of 69 percent to 30 percent in Pennsylvania, similar to her showing in Ohio last month. She also won older voters, women and whites and improved her margins among white, non-Catholic men.
She not only defied the odds, but she took counties she wasn't expected to be competitive in. Philadelphia was a real stronghold for Obama and I'm sure he was super-confident of taking the city and surrounding communities. Well of the 7 counties around Philly, Hillary took 5. But significant margins I might add.
Last night was great. She defied them all and won and then - once the talking heads declared her the winner - her website fired up like never before. Over 60,000 people logged on and sent her whatever they could. $5, $25, $50, $100, $250, $1,000 and yeah - even $2,300. Couples teamed up and each donated the max. Guys all this has added up to over $10 million - that's how much has been donated between 10:00 last night and 2:30 this afternoon.
Folks I'm seeing people maxing out their donations not just for the primary fight - but for the general election as well. That's how much faith Hillary's supporters have in her winning the nomination.
Hillary was at a rally in Indianapolis earlier today. She said that together, she, Bill and Chelsea had visited that city 50 times now. They may have been outraised by her opponent but what they can't match in $ they can make up for in shoe-leather (I love that phrase - it sounds so like the Midwestern and old-style, one on one politics that I grew up on).
Over the course of the day I picked up a few points regarding Hillary's surge in fundraising and success - all a result of her victory in PA yesterday. The campaign put out a memo first thing this morning with a sort of a round-up of what went down in PA...
The voters in Pennsylvania have spoken. America is listening. And the tide is turning.By providing fresh evidence that Hillary is the candidate best positioned to beat John McCain in the fall, the Pennsylvania primary is a turning point in the nominating contest.
Despite making an unprecedented financial investment in his Pennsylvania campaign, including millions on negative ads in the closing days of the race, Sen. Obama again failed to win a state that will be vital to a Democratic victory in November and spurred new questions about his ability to beat John McCain. No candidate has ever had more resources or enjoyed the kind of momentum that Sen. Obama had in Pennsylvania.
With concerns about the economy paramount, voters decided that Sen. Clinton was the candidate they trusted most to deal with job loss, the housing crisis and health care.
And with both candidates under the microscope at the same time for the first time, Hillary took more than a few punches and came out stronger while Sen. Obama emerged weaker as voters learned more about him. The exit polls clearly show that Sen. Clinton gained strength in the final days when the campaign was most engaged.
The reason for the Clinton comeback is clear: voters want a candidate who will stand strong for them and work to create a better future.
STRONG ON ECONOMY: Pennsylvania turned on which candidate made the better case for fixing the economy. Exit polls show voters viewed Hillary more favorably on the economy - her leadership resonated across the heartland of Pennsylvania. Those who want change in the economy voted overwhelmingly for Hillary.
A DECISIVE VICTORY: According to exit polls, Hillary won voters most concerned about the economy by 16 points (58-42) and union households by 18 points (59-41). She won those with incomes between 100K and 150K by 20 points (60-40); white women by 32 points (66-34) and Catholics by 38 points (69-31). She won those who decided on the last day (59-41), the last three days (58-42) and the last week (54-46).
SEN. OBAMA PLAYED TO WIN & LOST: Sen. Obama played to win Pennsylvania outright, outspending the Clinton camp by a 3 to 1 margin while sharply attacking Sen. Clinton on the stump and in television, radio, and direct mail pieces. He understood what was at stake for him in Pennsylvania, had six full weeks to make his case, went for a knockout at the end and came up short. Sen. Obama's failure to do well raises questions about his ability to win the large, swing states that Democrats need to win in November.
HRC WILL WIN IN NOVEMBER: Democrats must win the large swing states to beat John McCain in the fall, but Sen. Obama has struggled in states like Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania. In addition, Hillary's voters form the coalition needed for Democratic success in the fall battleground states: women, Hispanics, older voters, working class voters and Catholics. Sen. McCain is stronger than a typical Republican normally is among these groups while Sen. Obama has proven weaker among them. Hillary is also most likely to hold traditionally Democratic states and poised to expand the electoral map in the Southwest while also flipping a few traditionally GOP states like Arkansas.
OUR VICTORY HAS RE-ENERGIZED OUR CAMPAIGN & OUR GRASSROOTS: Sen. Obama may have outspent us 3 to 1 in Pennsylvania, but Hillary's strong supporters kept her in it. As news of Sen. Clinton's victory spread, we received more donations at www.hillaryclinton.com and more new online contributors than after our wins in Ohio and Texas. In fact, this was our best night ever for online fundraising.
I'll add one more guys...
I signed up as a HillRaiser nearly a year ago and up until recently, I've been too shy to ask for donations on Hillary's behalf. I crept up over the $4600 target and was able to attend a reception a month or two ago. My tally sat at just over $11,000 yesterday and by the time I got home from the phone bank and logged on last night, it'd reached over $17,000. Now it's over $18,000 and still climbing. People are really responding to Hillary's win by putting their money where their heart is. They know that if she's going to compete in those upcoming states, she's going to need our help and then some.
Take a look at an email she sent out to us this afternoon...
This campaign is your campaign, and the victory we celebrated last night is your victory.Now, thanks to you, the tide is turning in this race. We never stopped believing in one another, never doubted that we could count on each other. You didn't quit, and when I'm president, I promise I won't quit on you.
Now with the next critical contests right around the corner, we need your immediate help to build on the hard-earned momentum of our Pennsylvania victory and continue our success all the way to the nomination.
Contribute today to help carry our momentum to Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, and beyond.
Even though the Obama campaign went for broke trying to knock us out of the race, the people of Pennsylvania had other ideas.
We connected with Pennsylvania families who know they need a strong leader who's on their side to turn around the battered Bush economy and end President Bush's disastrous war in Iraq. And as this redefined contest moves across the country, we'll keep connecting.
I'm in this race to fight for you. And you know you can count on me to keep fighting for you every day. And as long as we keep working together, we'll wrest control of the White House from the Republicans and defeat John McCain. I'm going to continue to rely on your heart and your spirit every step of the way.
Contribute now, and together, we can carry our winning message to victory.
Thanks to you, we're on a roll. And with your immediate help, we'll keep moving forward until we've won the Democratic nomination, won the November election, and earned the opportunity to lead America in a new, more promising direction.
Thanks so much for believing in me and believing in how much we can accomplish if we keep pulling together.
Sincerely,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
I took the liberty of replacing the link to the generic links page at the campaign's website with the link to my HillRaisers page.
Add your voice to those who've already donated guys. If it's been a while and you're serious - I mean really serious about seeing Hillary win the right to take on McCain (and KICK HIS ASS in November!) then please, please, please go to my HillRaisers link and give until it hurts. People are giving up little things throughout the week like bottled water, lunch at restaurants or even the local deli and are bringing their lunch to work, dinner out or movie night, Starbucks coffee etc., and are sending Hillary that $ instead. Every little bit helps guys and it really adds up.
So think of where you might make room in your budget and send what you can. Hillary's got to bring in more $ if she's going to remain competitive in the upcoming contests.
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Help keep the momentum going strong if you want to see her make it gang.
UPDATE
Hat tip to Candian Gal for finding this fun, lighthearted Muppets video...
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