to bring the protracted contest to an end by standing down
"Some counted me out and said to drop out," she said
"But the American people don't quit
And they deserve a president who doesn't quit either"
A defiant Hillary Clinton signalled today she is staying in the Democratic race for the long haul after beating Barack Obama in the key Pennsylvania primary.
With 95% of the precincts reporting, Clinton racked up 1,181,047 votes, 55%, to Obama's 972,236, 45%.
Speaking at a victory party in Philadelphia, she vowed to fight on, in spite of Obama holding an almost unassailable lead overall.
In a passionate speech, Clinton rejected calls from inside the party to bring the protracted contest to an end by standing down. "Some counted me out and said to drop out," she said. "But the American people don't quit. And they deserve a president who doesn't quit either."
She said it was "long road" to the White House, and appealed for funds for her cash-strapped campaign, which is carrying a debt of $10m, in contrast with the millions Obama has raised.
"Tonight, more than ever, I need your help to continue this journey ... We can only keep winning if we can keep competing with an opponent who outspends us so massively," she said.
Obama, anticipating defeat, left Pennsylvania early to begin campaigning in Indiana, the next primary on May 6. He congratulated Clinton on running "a terrific race".
But he claimed that he had done better than expected, defying those who had said he would be "blown out of the water" and had closed the 20-point lead she had had the start of the Pennsylvania campaign.
However, he spent an estimated $8m on ads in Pennsylvania over the last six weeks, two to three times as much as Clinton, in the hope of knocking her out of the race.
The epic battle between Clinton and Obama looks set to continue through to at least Indiana and possibly even on to the last primary on June 3 or the party convention in Denver in August.
Stalemate
She can't win. He can't finish her off. We continue. "The next two weeks are going to be unbelievable," Tim Russert said during last night's coverage on MSNBC. He then added, almost apologetically: "I know we keep saying that after each event."
There are several possible explanations for this stalemate. The most widely circulated makes a great deal of sense: that her coalition of white working-class and middle-class families, the elderly and, depending on the state, Latinos is almost precisely the same size as his coalition of African-Americans, young people and white liberals.
But I want to trot out another theory, one I've been pondering since March 4, when Clinton won Texas and Ohio.
Obama's been on the defensive ever since then over his former pastor and his own ineptly worded remarks about "bitter" Pennsylvanians "clinging" to religion and guns.
It strikes me as at least possible that many Democrats are experiencing buyer's remorse. Obama came out of nowhere and wrapped this up early.
The numbers are such that it's still almost certain that he'll be the nominee. Yet it may be that Clinton, for all her flaws and baggage, is better suited to go into battle this fall against John McCain.
If nothing else, her protracted fight against Obama has reminded Democrats that she will fight like a crazed weasel, a quality that has not always been evident in Obama.
Yes, last week's ABC debate was a train wreck; Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos's shameless performance was an insult to the intelligence of everyone who watched.
But Obama did not acquit himself particularly well. If he had angrily told the moderators that their questions were stupid and had then proceeded to talk about, say, the mortgage crisis for a few minutes, voters might have stood up and cheered.
Instead, he sputtered and pandered, and allowed himself to be diminished by the proceedings rather than rising above them.
The chatter last night was whether Clinton's margin of victory will be enough so that she can refill her empty bank account. Probably. Ten points is quite a bit, and what little momentum there is in this race is hers, and has been for some weeks now.
The very fact that he can’t shake her off has become her best argument against him. “Why can’t he close the deal?” Hillary taunted at a polling place on Tuesday.
She’s been running ads about it, suggesting he doesn’t have “what it takes” to run the country.
Her message is unapologetically emasculating: If he does not have the gumption to put me in my place, when superdelegates are deserting me, money is drying up, he’s outspending me 2-to-1 on TV ads, my husband’s going crackers and party leaders are sick of me, how can he be trusted to totally obliterate Iran and stop Osama?
Now that Hillary has won Pennsylvania, it will take a village to help Obama escape from the suffocating embrace of his rival. Certainly Howard Dean will be of no use steering her to the exit. It’s like Micronesia telling Russia to denuke.
“You know, some people counted me out and said to drop out,” said a glowing Hillary at her Philadelphia victory party, with Bill and Chelsea by her side. “Well, the American people don’t quit. And they deserve a president who doesn’t quit, either.”
The Democrats watch in horror as Hillary continues to scratch up the once silvery sheen on Obama.
They are eager to move on to an Obama-McCain race. But they can’t because no one seems to be able to show Hillary the door.
Despite all his incandescent gifts, Obama has missed several opportunities to smash the ball over the net and end the game.
Again and again, he has seemed stuck at deuce. He complains about the politics of scoring points, but to win, you’ve got to score points.
He knew he tanked in the Philadelphia debate, but he was so irritated by the moderators — and by having to stand next to Hillary again — that he couldn’t summon a single merry dart.
Is he skittish around her because he knows that she detests him and he’s used to charming everyone? Or does he feel guilty that he cut in line ahead of her?
As the husband of Michelle, does he know better than to defy the will of a strong woman? Or is he simply scared of Hillary because she’s scary?
He is frantic to get away from her because he can’t keep carbo-loading to relate to the common people.
In the final days in Pennsylvania, he dutifully logged time at diners and force-fed himself waffles, pancakes, sausage and a Philly cheese steak.
He split the pancakes with Michelle, left some of the waffle and sausage behind, and gave away the French fries that came with the cheese steak.
But this is clearly a man who can’t wait to get back to his organic scrambled egg whites. That was made plain with his cri de coeur at the Glider Diner in Scranton when a reporter asked him about Jimmy Carter and Hamas.
“Why” he pleaded, sounding a bit, dare we say, bitter, “can’t I just eat my waffle?”
His subtext was obvious: Why can’t I just be president? Why do I have to keep eating these gooey waffles and answering these gotcha questions and debating this gonzo woman?