After Pennsylvania: How Sweet It Is For Hillary!

For weeks the media had been dismissive of Hillary Clinton, as if Barack Obama had already locked up the Democratic primary. And it was widely accepted that both the MSM and the blogosphere, with the occasional exception, were in the tank for Obama. Consequently, few were surprised that most of the major newspapers in Pennsylvania had endorsed the Illinois senator. Fortunately for Clinton, the working class in the keystone state outnumbered the press.

Since Clinton trounced Obama the other night in Pennsylvania, a new day has dawned and wonder of wonders, at least some in the media have begun showing the senator from New York renewed respect.

You have to love this headline in today’s NY Times: “Fresh Off Pennsylvania Victory, Clinton Raises Millions, Mostly Online”

Staff writers Jeff Zeleny and John M. Broder begin their newly invigorated commentary:

“NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s fund-raising roared to life on Wednesday, with her campaign collecting $10 million in the hours after she won the Pennsylvania primary, and the fresh infusion of cash immediately went to helping her mount a vigorous fight in Indiana, the next primary state.”

Zeleny and Broder noted Obama’s efforts in Indiana to reassure superdelegates that he was still the frontrunner but added:

“Mrs. Clinton’s overnight fund-raising success, however, gave her the means to compete on a more level field with Mr. Obama. Campaign officials said they raised $10 million in online donations in the 24 hours after her Pennsylvania victory, the campaign’s best one-day money haul. The contributors included at least 70,000 new donors, the officials said.”

The two NY Times staff writers described in detail the forceful and focused launch of Clinton’s campaign in the Hoosier state:

“Indiana, like North Carolina, holds its primary on May 6. Mrs. Clinton is seeking to replicate her campaigns from Ohio and Pennsylvania to win over voters there who share many similarities and concerns. She arrived in Indianapolis on Wednesday sharply focused on the economy, by far the chief concern of Democratic voters across the country, according to exit polls. She promised that as president she would deliver “jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs” across the Rust Belt, which has seen a severe erosion of manufacturing jobs in recent decades.

“A senior Clinton aide said that she would tailor her message in Indiana to appeal to lower-income workers in the cities and to voters in rural areas and small towns.

“The aide said Mrs. Clinton would continue to raise questions about Mr. Obama’s readiness to face the many economic and national security challenges facing the country. He did not rule out running some version of an advertisement that the campaign ran in the final days of the Pennsylvania race showing images of the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor and Osama bin Laden and questioning Mr. Obama’s fitness to lead in perilous times.

“She has two advertisements on the air in Indiana, both focusing on trade and the loss of jobs.

“Her campaign is also circulating fliers in Indiana criticizing Mr. Obama’s health care plan, claiming that it would leave 15 million Americans uncovered, a claim Mr. Obama disputes.”

The article closed with a word to the wise from Kip Tew, a former state Democratic party chairman and Obama supporter, concerning the upcoming Indiana primary:

“It’s hard to predict how they will vote,” he said. “People have consistently underestimated the power of the Clinton brand in Democratic politics.”