Clinton wins Pennsylvania primary, with strong support among older voters and women; Polls show Obama has an equal chance of winning against McCain if nominated; McCain raises more than $15m in March
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  • Senator Hillary Clinton won the crucial Pennsylvania primary defeating her Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama. Though Sen. Clinton entered the primary contest with a lead over Sen. Obama, her campaign was under tremendous pressure to win this primary if it had to have a realistic chance of halting Obama’s increase in the delegates count as well as the gradual drift of the super-delegates towards Mr. Obama. Pennsylvania had a sizeable number of blue-collar and white-collar workers as well as Hispanics who were solidly behind Mrs. Clinton. Her support base paid out as results showed that Sen. Clinto garnered the support of women, older voters and the less affluent and the less educated voters. Among white union members with no college education, she won almost three-quarters of the vote, leading 55 percent to Senator Obama’s 45 percent1. After her victory, Mrs. Clinton reiterated the fact that by winning both the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries, she was best poised to win against the republican nominee.

    In the run-up to the campaign, Senator Obama sharpened his tone against Senator Clinton by casting her in one of the most negative lights of the entire 16-month campaign, calling her a compromised Washington insider. Clinton responded by suggesting that Obama’s message of hope had given way to old-style politics and asked the Democrat voters to take a harder look at him2.

    Sen. Obama’s chances of wining against Senator McCain have also emerged as the key focus of the Clinton campaign 3. Polls however show that Sen. Obama has an equal chance of winning against Sen. McCain if nominated. His campaign finances also remain stronger in comparison to that of Mrs. Clinton.

    On the republican side, Sen. McCain’s campaign finances were finally looking up. His campaign reported that he had raised more than $15million by the end of March4. The New York Times reveled that in a list of 106 elite fund-raisers who had contributed more than $100,000 each for McCain, about a sixth of them were lobbyists5.

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