Fifty-five -- forty-five is a number that breathes another wisp into Mrs. Clinton's sails, while not helping her in the delegate count enough to make her continuing campaign anything but that of a spoiler.
(The) margin in Pennsylvania was probably not sufficient to alter the basic dynamics of the race, but it made clear that the contest will continue.
The media meme became all about the point spread and the over/under was seven or eight points, even as much as ten. So Clinton met those expectations, and the result is that Obama's inability to land the knockout blow is officially a sign of weakness. Since Iowa, he shows little ability to attract white voters with incomes under $50,000, the so-called blue-collar voter. These are likely the people -- also known by their aged label of Reagan Democrats -- who would abandon him in the fall.
If that's not enough cause for concern ...
“This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat who has not endorsed anyone in the race. “They are going to just keep standing there and pounding each other and bloodying each other, and no one is winning. It underlines the need to find some way to bring this to conclusion.”
And:
“We have problems going both ways, but that is going to get healed,” saiid Joe Trippi, who was a senior adviser to the presidential campaign of John Edwards, who quit the race earlier this year. “If it doesn’t get healed, we have problems.”
Next up: Indiana and North Carolina on May 6. Speaking of both Edwards and NC, Howard Fineman stated (during MSNBC's election coverage) that Elizabeth Edwards would be campaing with Hillary in North Carolina. Take that for what you wish, but my perception is that, if accurate, it changes the game to Clinton's advantage in a state where Obama is expected to make up for the delegate-count and popular-vote losses he suffered last night.
Update (from elsewhere around the 'sphere): Since Greg brought it up, I wonder what the internals are on the Dunder-Mifflin voting bloc. Martha and Bradley are celebrating -- and soliciting; Neil and jobsanger point out the obvious. Hal live-blogged the results. And Jerome has nine suggestions for both campaigns in the post-Pennsylvania wrap-up.
