Clinton's Keystone State of Mind

As expected, Hillary Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary. In her victory speech, Clinton said:

It’s a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania.

Demographics foretold Clinton’s destiny. Barack Obama won Philadelphia, Harrisburg and a handful of rural counties, but Clinton cleaned up in the rest of the state.

CNN exit polls show the racial divide. Obama received 90 percent of the black vote to Clinton’s eight percent. Clinton won 62 percent of the white vote to Obama’s 38 percent. Clinton won white voters of all ages, including 52 percent of independents and voters age 18-29.

Clinton’s 10-point victory keeps her in the game and bolsters her case that she is more electable in the general election. While Obama maintains a slim lead in pledged delegates, the Democratic nomination race is increasingly about race.

Twenty percent of Pennsylvania Democrats said the race of a candidate mattered. More revealing, 17 percent say they would vote for McCain or stay home if Clinton is the nominee. Twenty-five percent would vote for McCain or not vote if Obama is the Democratic standard-bearer.

Obama won Philadelphia with 65 percent of the vote. But he needed to win in a landslide to offset his limited appeal among blue-collar workers and voters who “cling to guns or religion.” Obama’s Philly margin might have been bigger if he had not bypassed campaigning in predominantly black areas, including Rep. Chaka Fattah’s congressional district.

CNN’s Roland Martin noted that having a rally of 35,000 people is good, but you have to be able to close the deal. I was at Independence Mall. The atmosphere was more like a concert or sporting event than a voter mobilization rally. Polls show that voters who made up their minds in the last week broke for Clinton 58 percent to Obama’s 42 percent.

In this improbable primary season, race has become the Democratic Party's Achilles heel.