Clinton Takes Two Big Swing States

ABC reports that Sen. Hillary Clinton has won the Pennsylvania Democratic presidential primary. She is now two-for-two in three of the key general election swing states: Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The Florida contest does not count -- in delegates at the convention; Sen. Barack Obama invested a million in ads there did not actively campaign there.

Earlier this month, McClatchy reported survey data suggesting "23 percent of white Democrats say they'd defect to Republican McCain if Obama were their party's nominee, while only 11 percent would do so if Clinton were."

These three states are key to the White House because no one has been elected President since 1964 without winning at least two of these three states. Before that, it was Truman in 1948 (lost Pennsylvania). Collectively, they account for 68 electoral college votes; 270 are needed to win.

• 1960: Nixon won Florida and Ohio (but lost to JFK)
• 1964: LBJ won all three
• 1968: Nixon won Florida and Ohio
• 1972: Nixon won all three
• 1976: Carter won all three
• 1980: Reagan won all three
• 1984: Reagan won all three
• 1988: Bush won all three
• 1992: Clinton won Ohio and Pennsylvania
• 1996: Clinton won all three
• 2000: Bush won Florida and Ohio (Gore would have been President had he won Florida)
• 2004: Bush won Florida and Ohio

Learn why the Democratic Party created the super-delegate system. (Hint: it was for cases like this this election.)