WASHINGTON — Turns out Hillary Rodham Clinton ’s victory Tuesday came with a cash prize.

In the hours after winning Pennsylvania’s Democratic presidential primary, Clinton said she had raised $3 million. The campaign said it was her best overnight performance ever.

Clinton, desperate to fight on against a flush Barack Obama, could certainly use the money.

On Sunday, the campaign revealed that at the end of March it had just over $9 million in the bank and $10 million in debt. Obama had more than $40 million cash on hand at the start of April.

Obama has been able to tap a formidable network of donors that now total more than 1.3 million. Clinton has a smaller donor base and only recently has begun to expand it through Internet solicitation. But a greater share of Clinton’s donors have contributed the maximum $2,300 to the primary allowed by law. That means that to stay within sight of Obama, she has to find new donors — not an easy task this late in a campaign.

The money disparity has been evident. Obama spent more than $11 million in broadcast television ads in Pennsylvania to Clinton’s nearly $5 million. It was the most Obama had spent in any single contest so far.

Both campaigns now hurl themselves into Indiana and North Carolina, which hold primaries May 6. Both campaigns already have been spending money in the state, buying ads, setting up field operations and traveling.

But, as he has in contest after contest, Obama is outspending Clinton on television commercials in those states by a ratio of 2-1. He has been on the air in both states since March 28, spending more than $2 million so far in Indiana and nearly $2 million in North Carolina, according to TNS Media Intelligence/Campaign Media Analysis Group, a political ad tracking firm.

Clinton went up with ads April 3 in North Carolina and April 8 in Indiana.

But if Clinton plans to stay in the contest through June 3, May will be an expensive proposition.

A week after May 6, Nebraska and West Virginia hold primaries. A week later, Kentucky and Oregon have contests.

Obama’s campaign wealth has allowed him to already look ahead to Oregon, which holds its primary May 20. Obama has spent more than $100,000 on television ads in Oregon, where residents have until April 29 to register as new voters. To add to the pressure, Oregon voters cast their votes by mail and ballots will begin arriving in households after May 2.

Election night successes have stimulated donors before. Clinton took in $1 million online during the 24 hours following her New Hampshire primary victory in January. She also raised more than $6 million in the three days following the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday elections, when more than 20 states were in contention.

Still, every time Clinton hits a high water mark in fundraising, Obama manages to best her. She recorded a high of $35 million in February only to see Obama hit a record of $55 million. Last month, bound to be slow after such a fundraising frenzy in February, generated a respectable $20 million for Clinton. Obama raised twice as much.

While Clinton has been outspent on ads, both have spent similar amounts on travel. In March, both posted about $5 million in travel expenses. Clinton has to foot the bill for two active surrogates — her husband, the former president, and their daughter Chelsea — have maintained breakneck schedules campaigning for her.

Obama has forced Clinton to chase him with spending, forcing her hand early by eroding her leads in public opinion polls. Clinton once led in Indiana, but Obama now holds a narrow edge in some polls. Depending on how well she can parlay Tuesday’s victory into cash, some Democratic Party strategists believe Clinton may have to shift her money out of North Carolina and into Indiana in hopes of staving off two losses in one day.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Defeated in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama quickly turned his attention to the next opportunity to dispense with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in hopes of facing the Republican nominee-in-waiting.

“We already know that John McCain offers more of the same,” the Illinois senator told supporters Tuesday night in Evansville. “The question is not whether the other party will bring about change in Washington — the question is, will we?”

More than 7,000 people in an arena at the University of Evansville — rocker John Mellencamp among them — responded by chanting the campaign’s theme, “Yes, we can!”

“Now, it’s up to you, Evansville. Now it’s up to you, Indiana,” Obama said. “You can decide whether we’re going to travel the same worn path, or whether we chart a new course that offers real hope for the future.”

Indiana and North Carolina vote May 6 and are among the last states to voice their preferences in the protracted Democratic nomination fight. Obama leads in the delegate race, but Clinton’s must-win victory in Pennsylvania kept her candidacy alive.

With Clinton favored to win Pennsylvania, Obama’s plane took off from Philadelphia just as the polls were closing. He was in the air when Clinton was declared the winner, and he learned the outcome upon landing.

When Obama took the stage he immediately congratulated Clinton on her victory. The crowd responded with boos.

“No, no. She ran a terrific race,” he said.

Obama took comfort in making the Pennsylvania primary less than a blowout for Clinton, arguing that he was able to register a record number of voters, rally people of all backgrounds to his campaign and narrow Clinton’s lead.

“Six weeks later, we closed the gap,” he said.

He didn’t mention Clinton directly again, but he drew contrasts when he talked about the choice Democrats face as they weigh who is the strongest one to go up against McCain in the fall.

In a double-barreled criticism of both his rivals, the freshman Illinois senator said: “We can’t afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing for another four years. We can’t afford to play the same Washington games with the same Washington players and expect a different result. Not this time. Not now.”

He added: “We can seek to regain not just an office, but the trust of the American people that their leaders in Washington will tell them the truth. That’s the choice in this election.”

Obama then turned to McCain with a full-throated criticism of the Arizona senator, assailing him anew as wrong on Iraq and wrong on the economy.

“We already know what we’re getting from the other party’s nominee,” Obama said, adding that while McCain has offered the country a lifetime of service, “what he’s not offering is any meaningful change from the policies of George W. Bush.”

As Obama’s entourage boarded the plane in Philadelphia, two of his senior advisers wore T-shirts that said “Stop the Drama, Vote Obama.”

BARACK OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.

Listen, there are a couple of “thank yous” I’ve got to say.

(APPLAUSE)

First of all — first of all, it’s good to be back in the Midwest. I am glad to see everybody here in Evansville.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to thank — I want to thank…

(UNKNOWN): We love you, Obama!

OBAMA: I love you back.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to thank John Mellencamp and his wonderful wife, Elaine, for taking the time to be here today, driving up from Bloomington. Give them a big round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

And I want to thank your wonderful mayor, Jonathan Weinzapfel, and his lovely wife, Patricia, who have been just so gracious to both Michelle and myself.

I have repeatedly said upon first meeting the mayor that this guy’s going somewhere and mainly because, like me, he married up, and his wife is such an asset, but I’m so grateful for his support. It means so much. And Evansville, obviously, is going to be so important to this upcoming election.

Well, I want to thank all of you who are here tonight, but I want to start tonight by congratulating Senator Clinton on her victory this evening, and I want to thank — I want to thank — no, no, she ran a terrific race. I want to thank the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who stood with our campaign today.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, there were a lot of folks who didn’t think we could make this a race when it started. They thought we were going to be blown out. But we worked hard, and we traveled across the state to big cities and small towns, to factories and VFW halls.

And now, six weeks later, we closed the gap. We rallied people of every age and race and background to the cause.

(APPLAUSE)

And whether they were inspired for the first time or for the first time in a long time, we registered a record number of voters. And it is those new voters who will lead our party to victory in November.

(APPLAUSE)

These Americans cast their ballots for the same reason you came here tonight, for the same reason that millions of Americans have gone door-to-door and given whatever small amounts they can to this campaign, for the same reason that we began this journey, just a few hundred miles from this spot, on a cold February morning in Springfield: because we believe that the challenges we face are bigger than the smallness of our politics, and we know that this election is our chance to change it.

(APPLAUSE)

After 14 long months, it’s easy to forget — after 14 long months, it’s easy to forget what this campaign’s about from time to time, to lose sight of the fierce urgency of this moment.

It’s easy to get caught up in the distractions and the silliness and the tit-for-tat that consumes our politics, the bickering that none of us are entirely immune to, and it trivializes the profound issues: two wars, an economy in recession, a planet in peril, issues that confront our nation.

That kind of politics is not why we are here tonight. It’s not why I’m here, and it’s not why you’re here. We…

(APPLAUSE)

We are here because of the more than 100 workers in Logansport, Indiana, who just found out that their company has decided to move its entire factory to Taiwan.

We’re here because of the young man I met in Youngsville, North Carolina, who almost lost his home because he has three children with cystic fibrosis and couldn’t pay their medical bills, who still doesn’t have health insurance for himself or his wife, and lives in fear that a single illness could cost them everything.

We’re here because there are families all across this country who are sitting around the kitchen table right now trying to figure out how they’re going to pay their insurance premiums, and their kid’s tuition, and still make the mortgage, so that they’re not the next ones in the neighborhood to put a “For Sale” sign in their front yard…

(APPLAUSE)

… people who will lay awake tonight wondering if next week’s paycheck will cover next month’s bills.

We’re not here to talk about change for change’s sake, but because our families and our communities and our country desperately need it.

We are here because we can’t afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing for another four years.

(APPLAUSE)

We can’t afford to play the same Washington games with the same Washington players and expect a different result. Not this time. Not now.

We already know what we’re getting out of the other party’s nominee. John McCain has offered this country a lifetime of service, and we respect that. But what he’s not offering is any meaningful change from the policies of George W. Bush.

(APPLAUSE)

John McCain believes that George Bush’s Iraq policy is a success, so he’s offering four more years of a war with no exit strategy, a war that’s sending our troops on their third tour, and their fourth tour, and their fifth tour of duty, a war that’s cost us billions of dollars and thousands of lives, thousands more grievously injured, a war that has not made us more safe, but has distracted us from the task at hand in Afghanistan…

(APPLAUSE)

… a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged.

(APPLAUSE)

John McCain said that — John McCain said that George Bush’s economic policies have led to, and I quote, “great progress” over the last seven years. And so he’s promising four more years of tax cuts for CEOs and corporations who didn’t need them and weren’t asking for them, tax cuts that he once voted against because he said they offended his conscience.

Well, they may have stopped offending John McCain’s conscience somewhere along the road to the White House, but George Bush’s economic policies still offend my conscience, and they still offend yours.

Because I don’t think that the 232,000 Americans who’ve lost their jobs this year are seeing great progress the way John McCain has seen it. I don’t think the millions of Americans losing their homes have seen that progress; I don’t think the families without health care and the workers without their pensions have seen that progress.

And if we continue down the same reckless path, I don’t think the future generations who will be saddled with debt will see these years of progress.

We already know John McCain offers more of the same, so the question is not whether the other party will bring about change to Washington. We know they won’t. The question is: Will we? That’s the question we face in this election.

Because — because…

AUDIENCE: Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!

OBAMA: Because the truth is the challenges we face are not just the fault of one man or one party. I mean, think about it. How many years, how many decades have we been talking about solving our health care crisis? How many presidents have promised to end our dependence on foreign oil?

How many jobs have gone overseas in the ’70s, and the ’80s, and the ’90s, and we still haven’t done anything about it? And we know why. In every election, politicians come to your cities and your towns, and they tell you what you want to hear, and they make big promises, and they lay out all these plans and policies.

But then they go back to Washington when the campaign’s over. Lobbyists spend millions of dollars to get their way. The status quo sets in. And instead of fighting for health care or jobs, Washington ends up fights over the latest distraction of the week.

It happens year after year after year after year, and this is our chance to say, “Not this year.”

(APPLAUSE)

This is our chance to say, “Not this time.”

(APPLAUSE)

We have a choice in this election. We can be a party that says there’s no problem with taking money from Washington lobbyists, from oil lobbyists and drug lobbyists and insurance lobbyists.

We can pretend that they represent real Americans and look the other way when they use their money and influence to stop us from reforming health care or investing in renewal energy for yet another four years.

Or this time we can recognize that you can’t be the champion of working Americans if you’re funded by lobbyists who drown out their voices.

(APPLAUSE)

We can do what we’ve done in this campaign and say we won’t take a dime of their money. We can do what I did in Illinois and in Washington and bring both parties together to rein in their power so we can take our government back. That’s the choice we have in this election.

(APPLAUSE)

We can be a party that thinks the only way to look tough on national security is to talk and act and vote like George Bush and John McCain. We can use fear as a tactic, the threat of terrorism to scare up votes.

Or we can decide that real strength is asking the tough questions before we send our troops in to fight.

(APPLAUSE)

We can see the threats we face for what they are: a call to rally all Americans and all the world against the common challenges of the 21st century, terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease.

That’s what it takes to keep us safe in this world. That’s the real legacy of Roosevelt and Kennedy and Truman. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States of America, to restore that legacy.

(APPLAUSE)

We can be a party that says and does whatever it takes to win the next election. We can calculate and poll-test our positions, tell everyone exactly what they want to hear.

Or we can be the party that doesn’t just focus on how to win, but why we should. We can tell everyone…

(APPLAUSE)

We can tell everyone what they need to hear about the challenges we face. We can seek to regain not just an office, but the trust of the American people, that their leaders in Washington will tell them the truth. That’s the choice in this election.

We can be a party of those who only think like we do and only agree with all our positions. We can continue to slice and dice this country into red states and blue states. We can exploit the divisions that exist in our country for pure political gain.

Or this time we can build on the movement we started in this campaign, a movement that’s united Democrats, independents, Republicans, young, old, rich, poor, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, because one thing I know, from traveling 46 states this campaign season, is that we are not as divided as our politics suggest.

We may have different stories, we may have different backgrounds, but we hold common hopes for the future of this country that we love.

In the end, this election is still our best chance to solve the problems we’ve been talking about for decades, as one nation, as one people. Fourteen months later, that is still what this election is about: millions of Americans who believe we can do better, that we must do better, that that is what’s put us in the position to bring about real change.

And now it’s up to you, Evansville. Now it’s up to you, Indiana. You can decide…

(APPLAUSE)

You can decide whether we’re going to travel the same worn path or whether we will chart a new course that offers real hope for the future. During the course of this campaign, we’ve all learned what my wife reminds me all the time, that I’m not a perfect man. I will not be a perfect president.

And so, while I will always listen to you and be honest with you and fight for you every single day for the next four or eight years…

(APPLAUSE)

… I will also…

(APPLAUSE)

I will also, should I have the opportunity to serve as your president, ask you to be a part of the change that we need, because in my two decades of public service in this country, I have seen time and time again that real change doesn’t begin in the halls of Washington, but on the streets of America.

(APPLAUSE)

It doesn’t happen from the top down, but it happens from the bottom up.

(APPLAUSE)

I also know that real change has never been easy, and it won’t be easy this time either. The status quo in Washington will fight. They will fight harder than ever to divide us and distract us with ads and attacks from now until November.

But don’t ever forget that you have the power to change this country.

(APPLAUSE)

You can make this election about how we’re going to help. You can make this election about how we’re going to help those workers in Logansport, how we’re going to retrain them and educate them, and make our workforce competitive in a global economy.

You can make this election about how we’re going to make health care affordable for that family in North Carolina, how we’re going to help those families sitting around the kitchen table tonight pay their bills and stay in their homes.

You can make this election about how we plan to leave our children, all our children, a planet that’s safer and a world that still sees America the same way my father saw it from across the ocean, as a beacon of all that is good and all that is possible for all of mankind.

(APPLAUSE)

Now is our turn to follow in the footsteps of all those generations who sacrificed and struggled and faced down the greatest odds to perfect our improbable union.

And if we’re willing to do what they did, if we’re willing to shed our cynicism and our doubts and our fears, if we’re willing to believe in what’s possible again, then I believe we won’t just win this primary election, we won’t just win here in Indiana, we won’t just win this election in November, we will change this country, we will change the world, we will keep this country’s promise alive in the 21st century.

(APPLAUSE)

That’s our task; that’s our job. Let’s get to work.

Thank you. May God bless you. God bless the United States of America.

Hillary Clinton declared the “tide is turning” Tuesday after scoring a critical victory in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, pushing the race ever forward to the nine remaining contests.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had 55 percent and Barack Obama had 45 percent, a comfortable enough margin to deny critics their demand that she quit the race.

“Some counted me out and said to drop out,” Clinton told cheering supporters at a rally in Philadelphia. “But the American people don’t quit. And they deserve a president who doesn’t quit either.”

Having already locked down the Republican nomination after the March 4 primaries, John McCain easily coasted to victory in Pennsylvania Tuesday, pulling 73 percent with 98 percent of precincts reporting.

Clinton beat Obama in the Keystone State primary with a big boost from her core constituencies, including lower income and union households, but she also ended up overperforming among some groups that are Obama strongholds, including college-educated voters and last-minute decision makers.

Pre-election surveys cast Clinton as the favorite in Pennsylvania, but she was under pressure to win big in the state. Trailing Obama in pledged delegates, she’s trying to win over uncommitted superdelegates by arguing that she’s more electable against McCain in a general election. A big win in Pennsylvania helps strengthen her argument that she is dominating in large swing states critical to Democrats in November.

“Hillary has won all the states we have to win in the general election,” Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told FOX News after the race was called, touting the fact that Clinton won Pennsylvania despite being largely outspent in the state by Obama.

Clinton, too, stressed that she did not have the same cash flow as Obama and urged supporters to donate to the campaign. The Clinton campaign claimed it raised $500,000 online in the first hour after polls closed Tuesday.

Obama said Tuesday night that he “closed the gap” in Pennsylvania, despite those who “didn’t think we could make this a race.”

One hundred fifty-eight delegates are at stake in Pennsylvania, the largest payoff of any contest left on the calendar.

But Indiana and North Carolina together offer more than that when those states vote May 6, and Obama was already gearing his campaign toward Indiana as results from Pennsylvania rolled in. He held his election night rally in Evansville, Ind., while Clinton held hers in Philadelphia.

Speaking in Indiana, Obama offered a warning to voters not to be distracted by political bickering — the kind that may have hurt his performance in Pennsylvania.

“After 14 long months, it’s easy to forget what this campaign is about from time to time, to lose sight of the fierce urgency of this moment. It’s easy to get caught up in the distractions and the silliness and the tit-for-tat that consumes our politics — the bickering that none of us are entirely immune to and that trivializes the profound issues: two wars, an economy in recession, a planet in peril,” he said.

Exit polls in Pennsylvania showed Clinton hanging on to key voting blocs — women, seniors, whites, union members and lower-income households. The polls showed she was leading in union households by 57 to 42 percent, and among seniors by 60 to 39 percent.

But Obama was holding a commanding lead among black and young voters, as well as among college-educated voters, who exit polls showed were breaking for Obama by a margin of 54 to 46 points. Among urban voters, he was getting 69 percent of them compared with 31 percent for Clinton.

Robert Friedrich, political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., said earlier Tuesday that a big margin — of at least eight or nine points — was critical for Clinton in Pennsylvania.

But Clinton said Tuesday that “a win is a win” and early on questioned why Obama was unable to turn things around.

“I think maybe the question ought to be, ‘Why can’t he close the deal with his extraordinary financial advantage?’ Why can’t he win … this one if that’s the way it turns out?” Clinton said Tuesday.

As polls showed Clinton consistently ahead in the state, Obama downplayed expectations going into the race’s final hours, and his campaign argued that the outcome of the primary will not change the dynamic of the race.

“It’s an uphill battle,” Obama said, campaigning at a Pittsburgh diner earlier in the day.

An Obama campaign memo claimed, “The Clinton campaign needs a blowout victory in Pennsylvania to get any closer to winning.”

Privately, the Clinton campaign was shooting for the big win. A large margin would help her make a significant dent in the delegate count, and help her convince uncommitted superdelegates to back her candidacy.

As of Tuesday evening, Obama claimed 1,705 delegates to Clinton’s 1,575. They’re aiming to reach 2,025 delegates to clinch the nomination.

The Pennsylvania vote came after an increasingly bitter and negative contest between the two Democratic candidates.

In the closing days of the campaign, Obama cast doubts on his rival’s honesty while Clinton questioned whether Obama was thick-skinned enough to handle the pressures of the presidency. She hammered him for telling a group of California donors recently that small-town voters “cling” to religion and guns out of bitterness over lost jobs.

Exit polls, however, showed that voters thought Clinton was the one hitting below the belt the most.

Asked which side was fighting unfairly, 68 percent said Clinton and just under 50 percent said Obama.

Meanwhile, near-record turnout was the expectation in Pennsylvania, similar to other states that have seen voters flood the polls.

Pedro A. Cortes, Pennsylvania secretary of state, said he expected turnout to be between 40 and 50 percent. Turnout exceeded 2.25 million Democratic voters.

“This feels like a general election, not a primary,” he said.

About one-third that many Republicans went to the polls in the mostly ceremonial GOP vote.

FOX News’ Aaron Bruns, Bonney Kapp, Caroline Shively and Judson Berger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HILLARY CLINTON: It’s a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, for six weeks, Senator Obama and I have crisscrossed this state, meeting people up close, being judged side-by-side, making our best case. You listened, and today you chose.

(APPLAUSE)

With two wars abroad and an economic crisis here at home, you know the stakes are high and the challenges are great, but you also know the possibilities. Those possibilities are endless, if we roll up our sleeves and get to work with a president who’s ready to lead on day one.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, that means ready to take charge as commander-in-chief and make this economy work for middle-class families.

(APPLAUSE)

And I thank you. I thank you, Pennsylvania, for deciding I can be that president.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, for me, the victory we share tonight is deeply personal. It was here in Pennsylvania where my grandfather started work as a boy in the lace mills and ended up as a supervisor five decades later. It was here where my father attended college and played football for Penn State.

(APPLAUSE)

And I am back here tonight because of their hard work and sacrifice. And I only wish they could have lived to see this moment, because in this election I carry with me not just their dreams, but the dreams of people like them and like you all across our country, people…

(APPLAUSE)

… people who embrace hard work and opportunity, who never waiver in the face of adversity, who stand for what you believe and never stop believing in the promise of America.

(APPLAUSE)

I’m in this race to fight for you, to fight…

(APPLAUSE)

… to fight for everyone who’s ever been counted out, for everyone fighting to pay the grocery bills or the medical bills, the credit card and mortgage payments, and the outrageous price of gas at the pump today.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, the pundits questioned whether Pennsylvanians would trust me with this charge. And tonight you showed you do.

(APPLAUSE)

You know you can count on me to stand up strong for you every single day in the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

This is a historic race. And I commend Senator Obama and his supporters tonight. We are, in many ways, all on this journey together to create an America that embraces every last one of us, the women in their 90s who tell me they were born before women could vote. And they’re hopeful of seeing a woman in the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

The mothers and fathers at my events who lift their little girls on their shoulders and whisper in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want.”

(APPLAUSE)

Tonight, more than ever, I need your help to continue this journey. This is your campaign, and this is your victory tonight.

(APPLAUSE)

Your support has meant the difference between winning and losing. Now, we can only keep winning if we can keep competing with an opponent who outspends us so massively, so I hope you’ll go to HillaryClinton.com…

(APPLAUSE)

… and show your support tonight, because the future of this campaign is in your hands.

You know, some people counted me out and said to drop out. But the American people…

AUDIENCE: Boo!

CLINTON: Well, the American people don’t quit, and they deserve a president who doesn’t quit, either.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, tonight, all across Pennsylvania and America, teachers are grading papers and doctors and nurses are caring for the sick, and you deserve a leader who listens to you. Waitresses are pouring coffee, and police officers are standing guard, and small businesses are working to meet that payroll. And you deserve a champion who stands with you.

And, of course, all across the world, our men and women in uniform, some on your second, third, or fourth tour of duty, you deserve a commander-in-chief who will finally bring you home…

(APPLAUSE)

… and who will rebuild our strained military, do whatever it takes to care for our veterans, wounded in both body and spirit. Today, here in Pennsylvania, you made your voices heard. And, because of you, the tide is turning.

(APPLAUSE)

We were up against a formidable opponent who outspent us 3-to-1. He broke every spending record in this state trying to knock us out of the race. Well, the people of Pennsylvania had other ideas today.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, the presidency is the toughest job in the world, but the pressures of a campaign are nothing compared to the pressures of the White House. And today, Pennsylvanians looked through all the heat and saw the light of a brighter tomorrow, a tomorrow of shared prosperity and restored world leadership for peace, security and cooperation.

After seven long years of President Bush, we’ve got our work cut out for us, and we don’t have a minute to waste. So it’s high time we stop talking about our problems and start solving them, and that is what my campaign is all about.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, all through this campaign, I have offered solutions, solutions for good jobs you can raise a family on, jobs that can’t be shipped overseas, and, on Earth Day, clean, renewable green jobs that can put us on the right track to the future…

(APPLAUSE)

… solutions for independence from foreign oil and exploding gas prices, quality, affordable health care, not just for many Americans or most Americans, but for every single American, no exceptions and no excuses…

(APPLAUSE)

… affordable college, and real improvements in public schools, not the failure that is No Child Left Behind.

(APPLAUSE)

We’re going to end the war on science and have a renewed commitment to science and research.

(APPLAUSE)

We will tackle everything from autism to Alzheimer’s, cancer to diabetes, and make a real difference.

(APPLAUSE)

I look forward to discussing all of these issues with the people of Indiana and North Carolina and the states that I’ll be visiting in the coming weeks.

Not long ago — not long ago, a woman handed me a photograph of her father as a young soldier. He was receiving the Medal of Honor from President Truman at the White House. During World War II, he had risked his life on a daring mission to drive back the enemy and protect his fellow soldiers.

In the corner of that photo, in shaking handwriting, this American hero had simply written, “To Hillary Clinton, keep fighting for us.” And that is what…

(APPLAUSE)

That is what I’m going to do, because America is worth fighting for. You are worth fighting for.

It was in this city that our founders declared America’s independence and are permanent mission to form a more perfect union. Now, neither Senator Obama nor I, nor many of you, were fully included in that vision, but we’ve been blessed by men and women in each generation who saw America not as it is, but as it could and should be, the abolitionists and the suffragists, the progressives and the union members, the civil rights leaders…

(APPLAUSE)

… all those who marched, protested, and risked their lives, because they looked into their children’s eyes and saw the promise of a better future.

Because of them, I grew up taking for granted that women could vote. Because of them, my daughter grew up taking for granted that children of all colors could attend school together. And because of them, and because of you, this next generation will grow up taking for granted that a woman or an African-American can be the president of the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

I am so honored by the support and the hospitality of all of the people of Pennsylvania. And I want to especially thank Governor Rendell and Mayor Nutter…

(APPLAUSE)

… Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, and State Treasurer Robin Wiessmann, and State Party Chair T.J. Rooney. These are great leaders and dear friends, as are my friends from the Congress, Representatives Murtha, Sestak, Schwartz, and Kanjorski.

(APPLAUSE)

Their support means the world to me, and the support of 100 mayors across this commonwealth and so many other state and local leaders who worked hard for this victory tonight.

I want to thank my friends in our labor unions for standing with us every step of the way.

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And my outstanding staff, volunteers and supporters here in Pennsylvania and across America.

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And I especially want to thank my family for their incredible love and support.

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Bill and Chelsea have crisscrossed Pennsylvania from one end to the other.

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My brothers, Hugh and Tony, who love Pennsylvania with all their hearts, from our childhood summers in Lake Winola, and my mother, who is with us tonight.

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We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but if you’re ready, I’m ready.

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Now, I might stumble and I might get knocked down, but as long as you’ll stand with me, I will always get right back up.

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Because, for me, in the end, the question isn’t whether we can keep America’s promise; it’s whether we will keep America’s promise.

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So let me ask you — so let me ask you, will we, will we once again be the can-do nation, the nation that defies the odds and does the impossible?

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Will we break the barriers and open the doors and lift up all of our people?

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Will we reach out to the world and lead by our power of our ideals again?

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Will we take back the White House and take back our country?

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I believe with all of my heart that, together, we will turn promises into action, words will become solutions, hope will become reality. So my answer to any who doubt is: Yes, we will.

Thank you, and God bless you.

PHILADELPHIA — Two wealthy businessmen were locked in a tight race Tuesday for the Republican congressional nomination in a northeastern Pennsylvania district the GOP lost to the Democrats two years ago because of a sex scandal.

Dan Meuser and Chris Hackett each were seeking a shot at running against freshman Rep. Chris Carney in the fall. With 54 percent of precincts reporting, Hackett had 14,660 votes, or 50 percent, and Meuser had 14,692 votes, or 50 percent.

They spent lavishly on television ads touting their conservative credentials.

Meuser, 44, is president of a company that sells equipment for the disabled. Hackett, 45, owns several companies, including a staffing agency and insurance brokerage.

Together they spent about $2.6 million of their own money. Meuser himself ponied up $1.8 million, including $295,000 one day before the election.

Until Carney’s election, the district had not sent a Democrat to Washington in more than four decades.

But Don Sherwood’s four-term House career was ruined after a woman 35 years his junior sued him in 2005, alleging the married father of three choked her at his Capitol Hill apartment. Sherwood admitted having an affair with the woman but denied hurting her; he settled the case for about $500,000.

Of the state’s 19 congressional districts, primaries in four, including northeastern Pennsylvania seat, were competitive — with no incumbents facing a challenge.

In central Pennsylvania, nine Republicans and three Democrats were looking to succeed Republican Rep. John Peterson, who is retiring at the end of his term. It was the state’s only open House seat. Peterson’s endorsement went to Glenn Thompson, the Centre County GOP chairman.

With 64 percent of precincts reporting, real estate developer Matt Shaner was slightly ahead of financial planner Derek Walker in the GOP primary.

Shaner, another top-spending Republican candidate, had legal issues to deal with; he was fined more than $500 last year for failing to report an accident and other charges stemming from a single-vehicle crash. He acknowledged in an interview with The Associated Press that he had been drinking and was in no condition to drive.

Walker, one of the highest-spending GOP candidates in the race, also had legal issues. He was charged days before the vote with burglary and other counts stemming from a dispute with his girlfriend last year. He denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

Among the Democratic candidates, Clearfield County Commissioner Mark McCracken was leading with 65 percent of precincts reporting.

The other Republican candidates were real estate developer Matt Shaner; Elk County Coroner Lou Radkowski; business owner Jeffrey J. Stroehmann; Chris Exarchos, a former Centre County commissioner; former Centre County commissioner Keith Richardson; Clarion Mayor John Rea Stroup; and insurance agent John Krupa.

The Democratic candidates were Bill Cahir, a journalist and Iraq war veteran, and Lock Haven Mayor Richard Vilello.

Outside Pittsburgh, three Democrats competed to challenge Republican Rep. Tim Murphy in November. They were businessman Steve O’Donnell; Beth Hafer, the daughter of former state treasurer Barbara Hafer and an executive in her mother’s consulting firm; and Brien Wall, who works for a life insurance company.

With 73 percent of precincts reporting, O’Donnell was ahead of Hafer, with Wall far behind.

In northwest Pennsylvania, Kathy Dahlkemper, the director of the Lake Erie Arboretum, beat three other Democratic candidates to challenge Republican Rep. Phil English in November.