Despite being outspent three to one by "the highest political spender" in the history of Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton's important victory in Pennsylvania yesterday is a clear sign that voters want this unprecedented presidential campaign to go on a little longer. Barack Obama has not closed the deal, and has now lost to Senator Clinton in every large state in the nation, other than his home state of Illinois.
Hillary Clinton has shown that she is the best Democrat to beat John McCain this November. We have two strong candidates, but Hillary has the toughness, the resilience and the determination that we need in a president. At every step in this process, when the pundits and the Obama campaign claimed the race was over, the voters have intervened to say "Not so fast!" America's voters deserve to choose our nominee, and there still are potentially more than 15 million to be counted in states that have not yet voted. They deserve their say before this nomination battle is prematurely shut down.
Too many reporters are complaining that the race has gone on too long. They're wrong. The race is energizing the Democratic Party's base as never before -- bringing new activists into campaigns, increasing our fundraising and laying a solid and vibrant foundation for success in the fall against a Republican candidate who guarantees four more years of the Bush economic and foreign policy agenda. Whether Hillary or Barack win the Democratic nomination, John McCain will face a party fully committed to bringing a Democrat into the White House, and ending the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.
I spent much of the last three weeks in Pennsylvania, speaking to AFSCME gatherings from one end of the state to the other. The members and retirees I met with were fired up. Pennsylvanians were excited to have a chance to help choose the next president of the United States. The unusually competitive nominating contest has electrified Democratic voters, encouraging many to become part of the process and the party. Democrats in Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, West Virginia and other places still waiting to vote deserve a chance to feel that energy, to have their voices heard and their votes counted.
According to USA Today, Democrats are registering to vote in encouraging numbers in states next in line to vote, calling this "a sign that turnout could continue to break records." Some 12,500 voters in the swing state of Oregon changed party affiliation in March, with the overwhelming majority choosing to become Democrats. Bucks County, Pennsylvania, until recently a Republican-leaning suburb of Philadelphia with 21,000 more Republicans, has turned voter registration on its head, with a new Democratic advantage of 3,500 voters. Those party switchers and new voters are joining the Democratic Party because of the vibrant competition between Clinton and Obama that some pundits and Obama supporters want to choke off.
One result of this landmark primary campaign is that our party is experiencing a rebirth. Democrats set new records for turnout in 12 states on Super Tuesday. James Thurber, of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, sees a dramatic shift in politics not seen since John F. Kennedy's 1960 campaign. Thurber says that the candidates and issues at stake this year, including an unpopular war and a shriveling economy, are driving turnout to historic levels that have the potential to reshape politics well into the future. That's the kind of change we can all agree on.
Both Democratic candidates raised more than $100 million each 2007 – each more than doubling Howard Dean's 2003 take in what the Wall Street Journal called "a stunning reversal of fortune." They have set new fundraising records this year at a pace that The Politico labels "a disturbing trend for Republicans."
The primary campaigns of U.S. Senators Clinton and Obama have built unprecedented field operations in state after state that dwarf Republicans' campaign efforts in their ability to move volunteers to action AND voters to turn out on Primary Day. The Clinton campaign has increased turnout among women 4% to 6% while both campaigns have brought new voters into the process and re-energized those who are determined to end the destructive politics of President Bush and Republicans like John McCain. When the primary season ends, we will have a strong candidate for the general election. Just as importantly, we will have a strong base of activists to turn out the vote and turn our country around.