• Home

Clinton Vows to Fight Until the End

Hillary Clinton won the West Virginia primary by a landslide last night, renewing questions about Barack Obama’s ability to win over white working-class voters in the November presidential election.

With all the votes counted, she was winning by a margin of more than two to one, with 67% (239,062) of the vote compared with 26% (91,652) for Obama. The former North Carolina senator John Edwards picked up the remaining 7%, despite having left the race at the end of January.

Clinton indicated last night that she will stay in the race until the last primary on June 3. “I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has had a chance to have their voice heard.”Clinton won 20 of the 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia, against eight for Obama – a margin of 12. In spite of the scale of her win, she remains too far behind to catch Obama in terms of the delegates who will decide the Democratic nomination.

Yesterday’s primary left Obama with a lead of 166.5 delegates. He has 1,883.5 delegate votes, including endorsements from super-delegates, while Clinton has 1,717, according to the Associated Press.

Clinton is to spend today in Washington trying to create doubt among undecided super-delegates about Obama’s ability to woo groups vital to win the general election against the Republican presumptive nominee, John McCain.

“It is a fact that no Democrat has won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia,” Clinton said last night. “The bottom line is this: the White House is won in the swing states, and I am winning the swing states.”

The primary was one of Obama’s worst performances to date among white working-class and poor voters, who make up the bulk of voters in West Virginia.

Based on last night’s figures, he would struggle to win West Virginia in the November presidential election.

Obama will today try to smother the defeat by announcing enormous fund-raising figures for April, in contrast with the revelation on Monday that Clinton’s campaign is carrying $20m in debt.

According to exit polls, a fifth of white voters said race was a major issue, while half said they believed the Illinois senator shared the views of the view of his controversial former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Voters were also upset at rising petrol prices.

In a worrying sign for Obama of the extent of damage to the Democratic party from his battles with Clinton, the polls suggested a third of Clinton supporters would vote for McCain in the November general election rather than Obama.

With a significant and growing lead in the delegate count, Obama is treating the primary race as effectively over. There are five more contests to be fought: Oregon and Kentucky vote on May 20, while Puerto Rico votes on June 1 and Montana and South Dakota on June 3. At stake are 189 delegates in total.

Obama yesterday picked up four more super-delegate endorsements, giving him 30 in the past week. That puts him on course to clinching the nomination by the end of the primary season on June 3.

The turnout in West Virginia was one of the highest on record, despite US media fatigue with a Democratic campaign that has been running since January.

Obama, anticipating a heavy defeat, virtually ignored the primary. He took Sunday off and made only a fleeting stop in the state on Monday.

He is concentrating on laying the ground for the November general election, and spent last night in Missouri, a mid-west swing state.

Speaking in Cape Girardeau, he predicted that divided Democrats would reunite in November. “There is a lot of talk these days about how the Democratic party is divided. But I’m not worried, because I know that we’ll be able to come together quickly behind a common purpose.”

Clinton has generally done better among poorer and less educated voters, and those in rural areas.

One in four of the votes cast in West Virginia was by voters over 60, an age group that in previous primaries has tended to opt for Clinton. About one in four of voters have had no education beyond school and more than half of those voting were in families with incomes of $50,000 or less.

Clinton should do well in the Kentucky and Puerto Rico primaries, where the demographics favor her. Obama, based on polls, is expected to be more competitive in Oregon, South Dakota and Montana.
By Guardian Unlimited © Copyright Guardian Newspapers 2008

© 2008 - 2012  A Great President  All Rights Reserved - Powered By WordPress