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The New York senator was carried to victory by whites, women, the working class and the elderly - the third time she's been rescued from the brink of political death after must-win victories in New Hampshire in January and Ohio in March.

Her victory came despite being outspent by an estimated 3 to 1 by the much better-financed Obama - and despite a surge of voters registering as Democrats that broke for Obama. The margin of her victory wasn't known as of 9 p.m. EDT, but several TV networks and the Associated Press declared her the winner based on exit polls and early return trends.

Clinton was desperate for a win, especially a big win, to jumpstart her campaign heading into the final stretch of primaries. She's looking for a series of victories to convince pivotal superdelegates that she's the strongest Democrat and that Obama is a flawed candidate who can't win big states against the Republicans this fall because he couldn't beat her in them in the spring.

"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 a state like this one, if that's the way it turns out?" Clinton said in Conshohocken, a Philadelphia suburb, before the polls closed Tuesday.

Clinton on Tuesday once again failed to do well among young and African-American voters, who are growing increasingly alienated from the New York senator. She won with some harsh tactics - too harsh for a lot of Barack Obama supporters.

Obama, on the other hand, stumbled badly. He outspent Clinton by an estimated 3 to 1. He had six weeks since the last primary to ingratiate himself with people he's had a hard time wooing: blue-collar whites, small-town residents and older women. Instead, he once again lost the white vote handily and couldn't put his opponent away.

The momentum that seemed so strong in February, when Obama won 11 contests in a row and seemed on the verge of knocking Clinton out of the race, was all but gone Tuesday.

Also gone, or at least fading, was the feeling among Democratic voters on both sides that either candidate was ultimately acceptable.

Clinton won at least 52 delegates to the party's national convention, with 60 still to be awarded. Obama won at least 46, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press.

The final delegate count isn't expected until Wednesday at the earliest because many of Pennsylvania's counties are split into multiple congressional districts. Pennsylvania awards delegates according to the statewide vote as well as the vote in individual congressional districts.

Election officials were working late Tuesday to assign votes from split counties to the appropriate congressional districts.

In the overall race for the nomination, Obama led with 1,694.5 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton had 1,561.5 delegates, according to the AP tally.

Clinton, Obama go on attack in last-minute scramble for Pennsylvania votes ... Michael Moore announces his endorsement of Obama in Web post ... North Carolina Democrats ditch effort to host debate

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Clinton, Obama on attack in Pa.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama questioned each other's character and readiness to be commander in chief in last-minute television ads as the six-week Pennsylvania primary campaign steamed toward an uncertain conclusion Tuesday.

Obama, who had hoped to drive the New York senator from the race, fought hard during weeks of campaigning in the state to appeal to blue-collar white voters, a group he has seldom won during four months of Democratic contests.

But Clinton won support from two of three whites without college degrees, and about the same number of whites from families earning under $50,000 a year, according to preliminary figures from exit polls of voters conducted for The Associated Press and the television networks. It was one of her stronger performances of the year with these groups.

There was little indication Obama was winning over constituencies he may have offended when he said at a fundraising event that small-town people were bitter and clung to guns and religion as a result. Gun owners, people who attend church at least weekly, and rural residents were all supporting Clinton by margins of about six in 10.

Even so, while more rural voters named Clinton than Obama as the candidate who was in touch with people like them, more than half said they connected with both contenders.

FINALLY, THE MAIN EVENT

After a six-week lull since the last Democratic primary, Pennsylvania voters were so eager to participate in the hotly contested battle between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama that one in 10 voting Tuesday had changed their party registration since the start of 2008 so they would be eligible to vote in the Democratic race. The contest was open only to registered Democrats. About half the party-switchers had been registered Republicans, while the rest had been unaffiliated with either party or were voting for the first time in Pennsylvania.

Most of those new Democrats were mobilized to come out for Obama, and they were nearly one-fifth of Obama's supporters. Even the former Republicans favored Obama over Clinton, largely invalidating rumors that Republicans would vote strategically in the Democratic primary in support of Clinton, hoping she would be easier to defeat in November.

WHO VOTED

Clinton, campaigning for her mother, told about 300 people at Duke University that former President Clinton didn't have a complete grasp of the inner workings of Congress when he took office in 1993.

The former first daughter said her mother will benefit from her time as a New York senator.

Chelsea Clinton said her mother stands her ground on issues but knows how to work with Republicans. And that, she said, will help her mother navigate challenges and fulfill her campaign promises.

"I think that she'll be a better president because she'll be more progressive and she's more prepared," Clinton said. "She'll just hit the ground running from Day One in a way that my father was not as equipped to do."

Her win Tuesday in the important swing state of Pennsylvania was hard-fought and decisive. Barack Obama's well-funded effort to shut her down did not come close to an upset.

But despite her victory, the dynamics of the race are the same as they've been for more than two months. Obama remains the front-runner, and that gets more important the closer the campaign comes to the end of the primary season.

"He's content to essentially run out the clock with his narrow lead, while she needs something dramatic to happen," said California-based Democratic consultant Dan Newman. "A one-run advantage in the first inning isn't a big deal, but a one-run lead in the ninth looms large."

Clinton now faces a dwindling number of contests, and she's at a steep financial disadvantage.

Beshear's general counsel has said Cave's appointment wasn't properly confirmed by the General Assembly.

Fox's appointment was not confirmed by the state House, Dick Brown, Beshear's director of communications, said Monday night. He said Fox will be notified soon that her appointment is not valid. Fox was not immediately available for comment.

Cave, a Lexington lawyer who was Fletcher's chief of staff, has objected, saying that Kentucky's constitution should override the statute Beshear's administration is citing.

Cave has stepped aside "under protest" until the issue is resolved.