Democrats Speak With Certainty About Obama Nomination as Clinton Presses On
Sunday: Hillary Clinton Clinton gestures to supporters outside the Anna Marie Jarvis Home in Webster, W. Va. (AP Photo)
Hillary Clinton was the only candidate campaigning on Mother’s Day Sunday, taking her daughter Chelsea to church before hitting the trail in an effort to pull off an upset and win the Democratic primary nomination against the numerical odds and pundits’ predictions.
The New York senator started the day braving thunderstorms in Huntington, W.Va., to listen to a church sermon on Mother’s Day delivered by Dr. Paul Russell of First United Methodist Church. Clinton shook hands with congregants after the service.
Clinton followed that with an afternoon appearance at the home of Anna Jarvis in Grafton, W.Va., site of the original Mother’s Day celebration 100 years ago. West Virginia Democrats vote on Tuesday. Speaking afterward to a group of about 150 people in a train station, Clinton quoted some of the e-mails of support she’s gotten from people around the country.
“I guess my favorite message was from a woman named Angela. ‘Keep strong,’ she said. ‘It’s not over until the lady in the pantsuit says it is,’” Clinton said.
The strength of moms, and women in general, is a theme Clinton wants to play up as she reminds Democrats of her strong support among female voters. They have been a major source of backing for the New York senator, who wants to become the first woman president in the U.S.
Overall, white women voters have carried Clinton over Barack Obama by a 60 to 36 percent, according to exit polls. However, that lead shrinks to 54-43 percent among college-educated, white women.
Clinton’s argument in West Virginia — as well as Kentucky and Oregon, which vote in 10 days — is that she is a better candidate against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain than is her Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.
“On Tuesday, voters in West Virginia, which is a key swing state, are going to get to weigh in. We’re going to have primaries upcoming in other states after that. They’re going to have their say, too. Senator Clinton is committed to her supporters and to the voters in the upcoming states to carry this through and secure the nomination,” Clinton strategist Howard Wolfson told “FOX News Sunday.”
But even as Clinton and her team says they will fight to the finish, The Associated Press is running stories headlined “Clinton’s Fall” and ‘Clinton’s Moments,” recapping her race for the presidency with a decidedly past-tense tone.
While the wire service writes Clinton “is fighting on for a prize few believe she can win anymore,” Obama surrogates are suggesting ways in which she could politely bow out of the race while keeping the party together and not damaging Obama’s chances in the Fall.
“I know Hillary Clinton well, I know her husband well. These are great Democrats, they care about the country very much, and I’m, I’m entirely confident as I speak to you this morning that we’re going to be a very united party behind Barack Obama very, very quickly and to face the challenges that John McCain and the Republicans pose in the election in November,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who briefly ran for the nomination and now backs Obama, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Campaigning in Oregon over the weekend, Obama reveled in his new lead in superdelegates — 276-271 — but was careful to avoid any outward sign of overconfidence. He told reporters it is premature to ask whether he would offer Clinton a spot on the Fall ticket or help her erase her campaign debt, positions repeated Sunday by his chief strategist David Axelrod.
Obama did say he would want Clinton to “feel good about the process” and be “on his team,” a notion Axelrod undercut by suggesting that most superdelegates will break for Obama quickly.
“I think people, out of respect for the process and the candidates — some may withhold their judgment. But I think we’re going to — we’ve been announcing several, you know, each day for the last few days. I think we’re going to continue to — we’re going to continue to unfurl these endorsements on a regular basis here,” he said.
Even a dramatic primary win by Clinton will do little to put a dent in Obama’s overall lead in delegates.
“There’s just no math right now for Hillary Clinton. She has a case for her strategy, but doesn’t have a case for the arithmetic of it,” said FOX News contributor Susan Estrich.
Still, Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe argued the race won’t be over until June 3.
“No one is the nominee. Everyone needs to be clear, until someone gets the magic number of the delegates, 2209, you are not the nominee of the Democratic Party,” McAuliffe told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“I think most of the superdelegates will wait until the end, until everybody has voted. They want everybody to be voting in this process. And then, at that point, I think, you know who is going to make the decision. I believe we’ll be ahead in the popular vote. We’ll be within 100 on the delegates, and then who is the best to win the general election?” he asked.
FOX News’ James Rosen and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
It’s not about throwing Senator Clinton under the bus, it’s about democracy. Our nation vote for a President, we do not “Just Put them In the Position.” If we vote, the way it has been done, then the winner is the winner. I am totally shocked, saddened and surprised with some of the comments above. I am a black female and I support Obama. If you look at the policies for Clinton and Obama, they are basically the same. So, I ask the question, “What will the problem be with supporting the candidate who win. If Obama wins, that’s fine, but if Clinton wins, I will support her. I am a school teacher and I teach my students the Democratic system and the way it should work. Come on Adults, the whole world is watching us, even your children or grandchildren. How can we teach students that the American system work and we can’t see past race or gender. We, as adults, need to practice what we preach. We tell our children that they should follow rules, play fair and be content with the outcome, but we are not doing that. Let’s not teach our children that they can break the rules, because they are the only one that count. That is a False and we are setting them up for failure in the Real World!!!!
perhaps its time for the WOMEN FOR HILLARY to make plans to go to DENVER to show
th dem part that e have had it……this whole primary is the product of the old boys club
trying to hold on….maybe its time to open a page on the internet with the purpose of
getting women together to go to DENVER….THE TME IS NOW!11
What ever happened to Hillary’s comment when Bill was running the first time. She said that home makes do not have any effect on things. That they should be more educated and involved as she is.
what would happn if all the hillary supporters wrote her name in-in the presidential
election…would they count…..
It is obvious! The Democratic Party is about to throw Hillary under the bus for Obama. He has virtually hijacked the Party now.
Hillary Clinton, you can do it. You deserve more than this. Go it alone, not as Independent [that doesn’t work] but start a new Party. Millions upon millions Americans will follow you. I am dead serious. Third Parties can work if the right leaders take charge and the time is now ripe. You may not make it to the White House next year, you probably won’t, but you are young enough to succeed in 2012 and you will beat Obama way down into third place this fall.
Go for it now because they want to kick you out anyway. All it the American Party, or anything you wish. Consult with your true friends and your Campaign staff but do it soon. You will save America from Obama, and that will be a fascinating legacy to have. Let the Dem’s have Obama. Fight him from outside. You will have all the support you need. Do it!!!
Lets be very clear about this.
The white blue collar in most of the Southern states like KT, WV, MS, GE mostly vote Republican.
Obama will most likely win in NC, SC, MS and lose in WV and KT. In fact, Hillary will lose in all of these states because historically, they have been GOP strong holds. The only reason Bill Clinton won them in 1992 and 1996 was because Ross Perot split the conservatives votes and Bill won them with less than 49% of the votes.
So to hear that Clinton is best is a bunch of garbage.
Obama will take CO, NV, MS, NC, SC, and LA as well as the other traditional big states like NY and CA. Ohio and FL will most likely go GOP as they have in the past 2 elections. CO, NV, MS, SC and LA will be the defining battle ground states where the DNC will push it over the top giving Obama the presidency.
As a republican, I will vote for Obama, because we do need change, however, I despise Clinton so much, I can’t pull the lever for her no matter what the circumstance.
Hillary has the blue collar working class base. However the superdelegates will ignore this and vote for Obama and in the process ignore millions of voters. This is an election sham. This whole process is fraudulent and should be investgated. This is the true coverage that the media SHOULD be talking about but they’re on the the Obama bandwagon to.
I just read an interesting blog. There is a lot of vitriol between Clinton and Obama supporters. Someone said that all the hateful blogs may not be coming from Dems. but from Reps seeking to keep us from uniting behind our nominee.
Possible? Especially if you consider the use of Operation Chaos to protract our primary.
Dems don’t be played by the Reps.
And Hillary criticizes Bush for not having an exit strategy! This is a costly war and too many people are getting hurt. It is senseless and the efforts are in the wrong place. We should be fighting where it counts. At this point it only appears to serve the Clinton ego. I think Hillary should start pulling out now, day one is today!
HRC braving thunderstorms in Huntington! Wow, I wonder if there was any sniper fire she forgot to mention; or did mention!