Pennsylvania results

Charlie Burr

With 56-percent of precincts reporting, it appears Clinton will win Pennsylvania as expected. Most important for the nomination, she does not leave the state with the landslide needed to catch up with Barack Obama.

The results from CNN:

Clinton 54-percent Obama 46-percent

Pennsylvania is a state tailor-made for Clinton. With the support of the state's political establishment and formidable campaigner Ed Rendell, Hillary led by as much as 25 points just a few weeks ago. But by working from the grassroots up, Obama significantly closed the gap by attracting a massive army of volunteers hungry for change. Obama's strong shoe-leather campaigning -- peer-to-peer direct voter contact -- helped his effort fight back the barrage of negative attacks.

As the Clinton campaign said itself, "[t]his is a race for delegates." [Washington Post, 1/16/08] By this critical metric, the Clinton campaign failed to accomplish what they needed tonight.

Obama's grassroots campaign in Oregon is strong in every corner of the state. They continue to open offices, contact voters, register new people in time for the April 29 deadline, and pick up powerful endorsements each week. Oregonians are eager to end the food fight and enact a bold progressive agenda for our country.

Oregon ballots will be mailed May 2. As I write this, hundreds of Obama volunteers are calling voters around our state. Now is the time to get involved if you've been watching from the sidelines. Oregon matters.

Now the fun part starts.

By Charlie Burr April 22, 2008