Don't cry for Hillary yet: New polls give her edge in crucial contests
BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Thursday, February 14th 2008, 11:14 AM
Gershon/Getty
Hillary Clinton greets a young supporter at a campaign stop in El Paso, Texas on Tuesday. Poll results released Thursday give a much-needed boost to her campaign after a string of losses.
Hillary Clinton holds commanding leads over Barack Obama in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two of the three upcoming mega-states that will determine the fate of her White House ambitions.
Clinton leads Obama 55% to 34% among likely Democratic primary voters in Ohio, and she's besting him 52% to 36% in Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac University polls released today.
After losing eight contests to Obama in the span of four days, Clinton and her campaign are now looking to the remaining big states - Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania - to halt the Illinois senator's political momentum.
Ohio and Texas, along with Rhode Island and Vermont, hold primaries on March 4. The Pennsylvania primary is April 22.
According to the Quinnipiac poll, voters in the Buckeye and Keystone states consider the economy, not the war in Iraq, as the most important issue.
"Ohio is as good a demographic fit for Sen. Clinton as she will find," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"It is blue-collar America, with a smaller percentage of both Democrats with college educations and African- Americans than in many other states where Sen. Obama has carried the day," Brown said. "If Clinton can't win the primary there, it is very difficult to see how she stops Obama."
Among Ohio Democrats, women back Clinton 56% to 30% while men back her 52% to 42%. Clinton leads 64% to 28% among white Democrats, while Obama leads 64% to 17% among black voters.
In Pennsylvania, white Democrats side with Clinton 58% to 31%, with men favoring her 49% to 39% and women pad her lead by 20 points.
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