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Clinton faces make-or-break primary vote
Wednesday, 23 April, 2008
Hillary Clinton (Getty)
Pennsylvanians are going to the polls to vote in what has become a bitterly-fought must-win vote for White House hopeful Hillary Clinton.
Late opinion polls suggest the New York senator - always the favourite in the state - would win out over rival Barack Obama, but it is thought she will need a double-digit triumph to keep her faltering campaign alive.
However Ms Clinton appeared to suggest she would continue fighting, whatever the margin of victory. "I think a win under any circumstances is a terrific accomplishment," she insisted.
Mr Obama - the leader in the wider race for the Democratic party's presidential nomination - has whittled down Ms Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania over recent weeks as the pair traded insults and negative jibes, but says he is not expecting to win.
Instead he told reporters in Pittsburgh that the vote outcome would likely be dependent on which candidate was best able to turn out their core supporters.
Ms Clinton needs a fresh burst of momentum ahead of the next round of contests in Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, which are followed quickly by the last six voting showdowns of the epic nominating battle into early June.
Campaign trail slip-ups
Mr Obama is ahead in total nominating contests won, pledged delegates apportioned in those showdowns, the popular vote, and the crucial multi-million-dollar campaign financing race.
And even a 10-point win for Ms Clinton in Pennsylvania would not do much to cut into her rival's lead, as the state's 158 delegates will be doled out under the system of proportional representation.
Mr Obama currently leads by 1,650 total delegates to the former first lady's 1,508, according to independent website RealClearPolitics.com.
The fight for the nomination has become increasingly angry in recent weeks, with even the smallest campaign-trail slip-up turned into a major issue by the opposing teams.
Clinton supporters jumped on a comment by Mr Obama that some small town Americans were "bitter" over the economic squeeze, and so clung to religion and guns, accusing the former activist of elitism.
And Ms Clinton's own campaign came unstuck when it was revelealed she had grossly exaggerated claims she had landed in a war zone 'under sniper fire' during her husband Bill's presidency.
Television footage of the then first lady's visit to Bosnia in 1996 showed her smiling as she was greeted on the tarmac at Tuzla by children reading poetry, prompting claims Ms Clinton is untrustworthy.
Source: SBS/AFP
Late opinion polls suggest the New York senator - always the favourite in the state - would win out over rival Barack Obama, but it is thought she will need a double-digit triumph to keep her faltering campaign alive.
However Ms Clinton appeared to suggest she would continue fighting, whatever the margin of victory. "I think a win under any circumstances is a terrific accomplishment," she insisted.
Mr Obama - the leader in the wider race for the Democratic party's presidential nomination - has whittled down Ms Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania over recent weeks as the pair traded insults and negative jibes, but says he is not expecting to win.
Instead he told reporters in Pittsburgh that the vote outcome would likely be dependent on which candidate was best able to turn out their core supporters.
Ms Clinton needs a fresh burst of momentum ahead of the next round of contests in Indiana and North Carolina on May 6, which are followed quickly by the last six voting showdowns of the epic nominating battle into early June.
Campaign trail slip-ups
Mr Obama is ahead in total nominating contests won, pledged delegates apportioned in those showdowns, the popular vote, and the crucial multi-million-dollar campaign financing race.
And even a 10-point win for Ms Clinton in Pennsylvania would not do much to cut into her rival's lead, as the state's 158 delegates will be doled out under the system of proportional representation.
Mr Obama currently leads by 1,650 total delegates to the former first lady's 1,508, according to independent website RealClearPolitics.com.
The fight for the nomination has become increasingly angry in recent weeks, with even the smallest campaign-trail slip-up turned into a major issue by the opposing teams.
Clinton supporters jumped on a comment by Mr Obama that some small town Americans were "bitter" over the economic squeeze, and so clung to religion and guns, accusing the former activist of elitism.
And Ms Clinton's own campaign came unstuck when it was revelealed she had grossly exaggerated claims she had landed in a war zone 'under sniper fire' during her husband Bill's presidency.
Television footage of the then first lady's visit to Bosnia in 1996 showed her smiling as she was greeted on the tarmac at Tuzla by children reading poetry, prompting claims Ms Clinton is untrustworthy.
Source: SBS/AFP
