After six long weeks of campaigning, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has won the Pennsylvania primary.
According to exit polls, undecided voters - many of them white and concerned with the economy - were crucial in Clinton's win, handing her a much-needed victory over Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
"It's a long road to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it runs right through the heart of Pennsylvania," Clinton said in her victory speech at the Park Hyatt hotel in downtown Philadelphia.
She later claimed that "the tide is turning" in the race for the Democratic nomination, now in its fourth month.
Most political analysts agreed that Pennsylvania was a must-win state for Clinton, with recent polls suggesting that such a win was likely.
Over the past month, Obama financially outspent Clinton in the state by a roughly 3-to-1 margin, but most of the Pennsylvania Democratic party establishment, including Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, backed Clinton throughout the race.
"We may be outspent, but we won't be outworked," said Ann Lewis, senior advisor for the Clinton campaign.
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz (Pa.-13), a Clinton supporter, said the evening had yielded a "strong win" for the campaign, and that "Pennsylvanians took this race seriously."
Just weeks ago, Clinton held a nearly 20-percent advantage in the state, but Obama has slowly lessened her lead through intense advertising and bus tours across Pennsylvania.
One exception in the Pennsylvania delegation is U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who supports Obama and became a vital spokesman in rural communities for Obama's campaign.
However, Casey's rural appeal was not enough to give Obama a victory in those counties.
Clinton, who won 60 of the state's 67 counties, retained large leads among white, working-class voters in rural areas, according to CNN exit polls.
Clinton "really reached out across the state" to win, said Schwartz, recognizing Clinton's efforts in "urban, suburban and rural Pennsylvania."
Obama was not without some victories, however.
He won Philadelphia county by a 30-percent margin, but his appeal faded outside of the city.
After Obama's recent comments that rural voters are "bitter" from their economic conditions, Clinton juxtaposed herself as a small-town, Scranton native who is a "fighter" for the everyday workers.
That narrative was clear during her victory speech last night.
"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," Clinton said to her supporters.
With such a long primary season, many students have become familiar with the tone of each campaign.
According to CNN exit polls, Clinton won white voters under the age of 25, a demographic Obama has won handily in other states.
"Just talking to voters, I knew it would be a great night," said College freshman Patrick Bauer, who works with the national campaign and spent yesterday morning campaigning with Chelsea Clinton.
Even within the Penn Democrats, which endorsed Obama in early March, there are still Clinton supporters.
Engineering sophomore Jay Fiddelman said the Penn Dems "made a mistake" in endorsing a candidate, adding that Clinton "has proved time and time again that she has what it takes."
But the outlook from here is not bright for Clinton, with primaries in Indiana and North Carolina only two weeks away.
In North Carolina, Obama is favored by double-digit margins in the most recent RealClearPolitics averages. The Clinton campaign is also under increasing financial duress.
Nevertheless, Clinton remains energized after another comeback and prepared to rebound against her critics.
"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,'" she said.
