The spin from Mark "Blackwater" Penn [View All]

[ProSense]

MEMO: A Significant Victory in Florida

by Mark Penn, Chief Strategistin News1/29/2008 9:19 PM

Hillary Clinton won a significant victory today in the Florida primary with the biggest turnout in Florida Democratic primary history. She will end up with more votes than John McCain, the winner of the Republican primary. And Floridians cast more votes than were cast in Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina, and New Hampshire combined.

A large, broad, and diverse group of voters came out and voted for Hillary in Florida. She won women, men, and just about every age category. She won 6 in 10 Latinos and nearly 3 in 10 African American voters.

The vote turned out to be far more than symbolic. Well over 1.5 million Democrats cast their ballots, more than twice the number of voters who came out to vote in the 2004 primary.

Most of the voters in Florida fully expect that their votes will not be wasted again -- they expect to have a voice at the convention, and Hillary has asked her delegates to support their being seated.

This result comes after Senator Obama ran TV commercials that reached Florida homes and after the enormous publicity he received for South Carolina and for the Ted Kennedy endorsement. The exit polls show widespread recognition of the endorsement -- but even so among those who decided on Election Day, a plurality of those chose Hillary.

But any momentum seemed to run out today -- among those who decided on Election Day, a plurality of those chose Hillary.

Hillary got 23% (little over 2 in 10) of the black vote.

Hillary tied Obama with:

ZERO Delegates

Also, no one knows how many people decided not to vote because they understood the rules that were in place until Hillary's last minute Calvinball play. Hillary supporters I'm sure got word from her campaign to go vote.

All-in-all, this is just a desperate campaign spinning a silver lining after a crushing defeat.