Clinton’s victory in Pa. proves staying power

Had she lost Tuesday’s primary in Pennsylvania or won with a very narrow margin, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would today be under pressure from Democratic Party leaders to give up her quest for the nomination for president.

But Clinton scored as decisive a victory in Pennsylvania as she did in Ohio in March and her candidacy is very much alive.

To those who bemoan the failure of either Clinton or U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois to secure the 2,025 delegates needed for the nomination, we say the race for the presidency was never meant to be quick or easy.

That the two Democrats will have campaigned in just about every state in the nation is good for American politics. It makes for a true national election.

After her victory in Ohio in March, experts said that Pennsylvania would be just as important a test for her.

Tuesday’s victory, which gave Clinton the same 10 percent margin as she had in Ohio, now has the experts talking about Indiana, North Carolina and the other remaining states.

While it is true that she lags behind Obama in the number of pledged delegates and superdelegates and also the number of states won (giving him a lead in the popular vote), the reality of the presidential election in November is that the big states matter the most. In that regard, Clinton has carried just about all the major ones, including California, New York and, yes, Ohio. The Buckeye State will be a must-win in November.

Let the race continue

Given that dynamic, the race for the Democratic nomination for president deserves to continue.

The issues that Clinton and Obama are debating as they campaign are those that Americans are thinking about.

Indeed, the former first lady’s huge wins in Mercer and Lawrence counties demonstrate once again that she has connected with white, blue-collar voters and with older voters, women and whites and improved her margins among white, non-Catholic men. These are important demographics for a Democratic win in November.

Without a doubt the economy — are we in a recession yet? — is on the minds of most people. How will the next president deal with the loss of manufacturing jobs to Mexico and other low-wage countries?

The ever-increasing cost of health care and the lack of a coherent national policy for retraining American workers who have been forced out of the workforce, along with the skyrocketing price of fuel and even food, demand both Democratic candidates and the presumptive Republican nominee, U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, to clearly articulate solutions.

The Mahoning and Shenango valleys are representative of what is taking place in the country today. Unemployment rates above the national average, crime in the cities, deteriorating urban school systems all cry out for a national strategy for reviving old industrial regions.

Democrats should take encouragement from the fact that Clinton and Obama have the opportunity to try out their ideas in cities like Youngstown and Sharon.

Clinton’s victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio are also significant for governors Ed Rendell and Ted Strickland, who put their political reputations on the line in endorsing her.

Thus today, the race goes on and the American people will be the better for it.

Even if the contest is not resolved by the time of the Democratic convention in Denver in August, that would not be a bad thing.