Clinton asks supporters for campaign cash after PA win Nick Juliano

Published: Tuesday April 22, 2008



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Print This Email This Hillary Clinton scored an expected win over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary Tuesday night and she took the opportunity to ask supporters for desperately needed campaign donations. "It's a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania," Clinton said to kick off her victory speech, reiterating a cliché her campaign repeated at nearly every opportunity leading up to Tuesday's vote. The former first lady, who raised half as much money as Barack Obama last month, used her nationally televised speech to direct supporters to her campaign Web site to make a donation. She tacitly acknowledged the uphill battle that remains if she is to snatch the nomination from Obama, who has massively out-raised Clinton in the money race and holds virtually insurmountable leads in pledged delegates and the popular vote. "Your support has meant the difference between winning and losing," she told a raucous crowd in Philadelphia. "We can only keep winning if we can keep competing ... so I hope you'll go to HillaryClinton.com and show your support tonight because the future of this campaign is in your hands." Clinton's campaign Web site automatically redirected to a donation page Tuesday night encouraging supporters to contribute at least $5 to Clinton's campaign. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder reported that the Clinton campaign claimed it raised $500,000 before the Pennsylvania polls closed Tuesday. Clinton needed the influx of cash, as she was outspent in Pennsylvania and out-raised last month by a two-to-one margin by Obama (he raised more than $40 million to her $20 million). Clinton's campaign is also severely in debt, owing more to campaign consultants, vendors and others than it currently has in the bank. As the votes were counted Tuesday, Clinton's lead ranged between six and 10 points; it remained to be seen how the win would be perceived. Such a margin, however, would make it essentially impossible for her to overtake Obama in the pledged delegate count before the Democratic primaries end in June, MSNBC's Chuck Todd noted. In her victory speech, Clinton spoke of her roots in the Keystone state, repeated her insistence that she can lead "from day one" and offered herself as someone who is a problem solver. In his post-Pennsylvania speech, Obama focused on his main message in this campaign: that he can change the way the political game is played in a way Clinton cannot. He also implicitly accused Clinton of simply pandering to the state's voters. "In every election, politicians come to your cities and your towns, and they tell you what you want to hear, and they make big promises, and they lay out all these plans and policies. But then they go back to Washington when the campaigns over. Lobbyists spend millions of dollars to get their way. The status quo sets in. And instead of fighting for health care or jobs, Washington ends up fighting over the latest distraction of the week. It happens year after year after year," Obama said, according to the prepared text of his speech. Obama went on critique Clinton's foreign policy positions. "We can be a party that thinks the only way to look tough on national security is to talk, and act, and vote like George Bush and John McCain. We can use fear as a tactic, and the threat of terrorism to scare up votes," Obama said, apparently referencing Clinton's vote in favor of sending the military to Iraq and her use of Osama bin Laden in a recent ad. "Or we can decide that real strength is asking the tough questions before we send our troops to fight," he continued. "We can see the threats we face for what they are  a call to rally all Americans and all the world against the common challenges of the 21st century  terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease. Thats what it takes to keep us safe in the world. Thats the real legacy of Roosevelt and Kennedy and Truman."