It was ONLY ONE STATE

[Hugabear]

First of all, congrats to Hillary for winning PA. Winning a state that she was heavily favored to win all along, up by over 20 points at one point.

To hear a lot of Hillary supporters over the past few weeks, you'd think that Pennsylvania is the only primary that counts. Nevermind the fact that she's still behind in pledged delegates. Nevermind the fact that Obama still has won more states. Nevermind the fact that she needs to win by almost impossible margins in the rest of the primaries to pull ahead in pledged delegates. After all, we all know that most of Obama's states are "blue" states - those don't count. And he's also done well in caucus states, which are unfair to Hillary (let's ignore the fact that her husband had no problem winning caucus states).

So congrats on winning a state.

[Zynx]

1. In fairness, just as Obama winning Georgia was more important than Hillary winning Rhode Island

so too is winning PA more important than winning Wyoming and Mississippi together.

All states are not equal nor should they be. They are artificial constructs.

[Hugabear]

2. Maybe so - but Obama has still won more states

And all those "smaller" states added up together are still pretty significant.

[Obama Underground]

3. Exactly

Hilldog just needs to quit, SO what she won a state she should have won big deal, she barely won it. She is just clinging to her campaign, and all its doin is ruining the party. She is a complete idiot.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Yeah, but she's got momentum. She's on a winning streak.

How many states is that in a row now?

Hmm.

[EffieBlack]

5. Think they didn't move the goalposts?

Chris Matthews, Hardball, April 7, 2008:
I think it`s eight at least, but any way we`ll see. If it`s double digit, its blowout time and she`s back in the race big time. If it`s high single digits, she`s had a good night, right? By the way, the confetti's going to fall if she wins by a vote. No question about it.


Chris Matthews, Hardball, April 14, 2008:
I think it`s going to hurt him up here. I think it`s going to be double-digits up here for Clinton. That`s what I think

Hardball, April 17, 2008:

MATTHEWS: I want to ask you all, in turn, to talk about what`s I`ve been watching everything up there. I don`t trust the undecideds. I think they`re for Hillary. That`s my bet . . . David, your thoughts?

DAVID BRODY (Christian Broadcasting Network): I agree to a certain extent. As well, what`s going to happen here is Hillary obviously needs to do double digits here.

MATTHEWS: You`re saying she needs the blow out?

BRODY: I think so.

Chris Matthews, Hardball, April 18, 2008
At the same time in Pennsylvania, it looks like Hillary is coasting toward something like a double-digit win there

April 21, 2008 Hardball:

CHUCK TODD: I think it`s definitely 5 or 6. I mean, you know, we`re going to -- if it`s right at 5 or 6, there`s going to be the heck of a spin war between the two campaigns to try to lay claim to victory or defeat.

But I think the bottom line here for Clinton is that there`s a number to keep going and then there`s a number to actually start changing the dynamic of the race where she could actually get the nomination. So there`s two different numbers. Some sort of mid to high single digit victory is certainly enough for her to keep going, but it`s hard to imagine how she still stops Obama from getting the nomination.

If she gets the double-digit victory, if she gets into that 10, 11, 12, 13-point area, well, then, suddenly, she can start talking about game-changer type of thing because this victory would be bigger than it was in Ohio and then she could start laying the claim, Look, Pennsylvania, very similar to Ohio, except the difference is we`ve learned more about Obama and maybe he does have electability issues. So it`s sort of like there are two different numbers for her, one to keep going and one to actually change the direction of the race.

MATTHEWS: So what would you -- let me try to pin you down. Roughly, does the range of game-changing numbers begin at double digits?

TODD: Yes. No. I think it does --it begins and ends in double digits because what double digits gives her, assuming a two million turnout, two million folks turning out -- and I`ve heard estimates of approximately 1.8 on the sort of mid-range, 1.6 on the lower range, 2 million on the high range. So give them the 2 million because it`s easier on the math. A 10-point victory gives her a net of about 200,000 popular votes. That actually eats in -- that starts truly eating into that lead that Obama has in the popular vote, giving her some sort of moral claim to the nomination. She`s never going to get there in delegates. This is no longer a pledged delegate fight for her because she may only net -- she could win by 12 points and net only 10 delegates tomorrow night, Chris.

MATTHEWS: Suppose she gets somewhere between 7 and 10? Then what?

TODD: I think it gives her license to keep going, but I think that she`s going to find a lot more folks wondering, OK, but what is the end game? Can you really, you know, do the -- she`s now suddenly relying on Obama to make another mistake. It probably isn`t enough to stop him from a double-digit victory in North Carolina. And frankly, it may not be enough to get money back flowing into the campaign to make Indiana competitive.