Clinton 

Win and a prayer

Hillary proving to superdelegates she can carry big states

PENNSYLVANIA. Six exhausting weeks after a historic presidential primary roared into Pennsylvania, voters yesterday chose Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, but her margin of victory — hovering near 10 percent at press time — likely didn’t do much to help her fight to earn the Democratic nomination.

Still, Clinton got a large share of the state’s 158 delegates and helped push forward her argument to superdelegates across the country that she’s the more viable candidate to face Republican John McCain in November.

“We went up against a formidable opponent who outspent us 3 to 1,” Clinton told supporters last night. “He broke every spending record in the state. But Pennsylvanians had different ideas.”

According to Saint Joseph’s professor Randall Miller, the best Clinton can hope for is for superdelegates to “stay uncommitted and let this thing play out in Indiana, North Carolina and Kentucky,” he said. “Then she can continue to push the Clinton mantle, which is that she is the most electable.”

Sen. Barack Obama outspent Clinton handily in Pennsylvania and is expected to again outspend her in North Carolina and Indiana. Obama had $42 million at the beginning of April, while Clinton was in debt.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t think we could do it,” Obama said in defeat. “Six weeks later, we closed the gap.”

According to a Bloomberg analysis, Clinton needed a 25-point win yesterday and needs 20-point wins in West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico to catch up to Obama in the popular vote, which supporters hope would help sway superdelegates to her side.