Hillary Win Leaves Dems Unmoved, Barack Weaker

Pennsylvania primary changed nothing, party operatives agree
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 23, 2008 7:38 AM CDT
Hillary Win Leaves Dems Unmoved, Barack Weaker
Dorothy Rodham, top right, hugs her daughter Hillary Rodham Clinton as Chelsea Clinton celebrates her mother's Pennsylvania Primary win over Barack Obama in Philadelphia, Tuesday, April 22, 2008.    (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Hillary Clinton's 10-point win in Pennsylvania leaves the Democratic Party in the same quandary it was in before the primary, writes Carolyn Lochhead in the San Francisco Chronicle, but with the pressure ratcheted up. While the race did not much improve Clinton's chances, it did expose Barack Obama's possible weaknesses as a general election candidate.

Within the party, Clinton's argument that only she can carry big states remains unconvincing. Winning them in the primary doesn't translate into November victory, notes Joe Trippi, who ran the Edwards campaign. "Do you really think, as she's saying, that she'll win Texas?" Said another Democratic operative: "McCain's got to be the underdog, but I'm not encouraged by the numbers I see now." And if Clinton and Obama continue to brutalize each other, the eventual winner could be in serious trouble. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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