Pennsylvania Win Helps Clinton Raise Millions, Adds to Obama Questions

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Hillary Clinton is still behind Barack Obama in the delegate count after the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday. But her ten-point victory kept her supporters' hopes alive in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Attention is now directed to Indiana and North Carolina, where the next primaries will be held on May sixth. Senator Obama is expected to win North Carolina, but he faces a close race for Indiana voters.

In the race for donations, the Obama campaign had about forty million dollars at the end of March and no debt. The Clinton campaign had about nine million left to spend, and ten million of debt.

But her campaign said it raised more than ten million dollars in the twenty-four hours following her win in Pennsylvania. A spokesman said eighty percent of the donors were first-time givers to the campaign.

During appearances this week, Senator Clinton said more people have voted for her than Barack Obama. She included the votes from Michigan and Florida, giving her a lead of about one hundred thousand votes.

But Democratic Party officials are refusing to recognize the Michigan and Florida votes. Barack Obama was not even on the Michigan ballot. The two states violated party rules when they held their primaries too early. Without Michigan and Florida, Senator Obama leads in the popular vote by about half a million.

Republican Senator John McCain has already won the required number of delegates to receive his party's nomination later this year. But Democrats use a different system of awarding delegates, and neither candidate is likely to meet that party's magic number.

The nominee may be decided by the votes of superdelegates. These eight hundred party leaders and elected officials are free to support the candidate of their choice.

Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania with the support of white voters, women and older voters. She also had the support of lower-income and less-educated voters, rural voters and members of labor unions.

Barack Obama continued to hold the support of younger people and black voters. He did especially well in Pennsylvania's college towns. He lost some ground, however, among well-educated white professionals. They helped him win earlier states like Wisconsin and Virginia.

Barack Obama still has the delegate lead and financial security. But some of his supporters worry that he has been unable to cut into Hillary Clinton's base, especially white, working-class voters. Hillary Clinton says this makes her the stronger candidate to defeat John McCain in November.

Senator McCain must hold onto his party's base, including evangelical Christians and voters who support the war in Iraq. But the longer the Democrats take to choose a nominee, the more time he has to make his case. Polls now show voters evenly divided when asked to choose between John McCain and either Democrat.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.