Clinton Poised For Rout in West Virginia Primary
Despite declining support from superdelegates and dwindling odds, Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected to crush Sen. Barack Obama tomorrow in West Virginia.
A survey last week showed her leading 66-23 percent, and today, a new Suffolk University poll has Clinton drawing support from 60 percent of likely West Virginia Democratic primary voters compared to Obama’s 24 percent.
Clinton, for someone considered a divisive figure nationally, holds a remarkably high 70 percent approval rating among West Virginia’s Democratic primary voters.
A separate poll showed the former First Lady leading the Illinois Senator by a huge margin - 27 percent - in neighboring Kentucky, which votes May 20.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to battle for the nomination.
Only half of West Virginia primary voters think Barack Obama can beat John McCain in the general election - though Gov. Joe Manchin is one of them.
One of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates, Manchin said the delegate numbers are in Obama’s favor, but the popular vote is important as well.
“I think we see what happened in 2000, when Al Gore won the popular vote, and where the country has gone and the feelings toward government since then. I put a lot of stock in that,” he said on CNN’s American Morning.
“If the people believe that it was over, they wouldn’t be voting maybe in the way they might vote tomorrow or in the next few campaigns,” he said.
Following Obama’s big victory in North Carolina and Clinton’s narrow win in Indiana May 6, some party leaders have suggested the Clinton campaign has reached the end, but she has vowed to stay in the race.
Neither Democrat will have enough delegates to clinch the nomination when the primary voting concludes May 3, though Barack Obama will, in all likelihood, win a majority of the pledged delegates, as well as the popular vote.
Just 28 delegates are up for grabs tomorrow in West Virginia and 51 more in Kentucky next week. Oregon, which also votes May 20, and where Obama is currently favored to win, has 52 delegates at stake.
Today, Hillary Clinton is campaigning hard in West Virginia, hoping to run up a landslide popular vote victory - her key to any outside chance at the nomination. She’ll visit Montgomery, Clear Fork, Logan and Fairmont.
Obama, meanwhile, has an event scheduled in Charleston, W.V., and is then expected to travel to Kentucky for a rally in Louisville.
NATIONAL
May 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
It’s hypocritical for Hillary to now claim that the popular vote is what matters when in February she was claiming that what is important is the choice of the superdelegates.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/14/clinton-superdelegates-t_n_86656.html
May 12th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
This is very funny. Everyone knows why Hillary is definitely going to win West Virginia. Have you seen the majority of the voters? As a former resident of West Virginia let’s just say that if you are not of white decent, then you will not be heard or taken seriously. I lived there and I have heard the jokes around my community. It is a very sad thing that we as Americans still differentiate between black, white, Latino, Arab, and so forth. Trust me, I was an honors student in my school and I achieved one the highest SAT scores in the state. Furthermore, I am a very dedicated student. Out of the Roaster of students that applied to the University of West Virginia I was the only one out of my friends that was not accepted. Even though, I had higher merits than the students attending the university right now. It is very funny how they accepted a 2.8 GPA student with a weak SAT score over a 4.0 Student. However, it turned out for the better and now I attend Cornell. This is just a taste of what West Virginia is like. It isn’t racism at all, but more like West Virginians not viewing Obama as an “electable” candidate. In other words, they are not used to the idea of the elect”-ability” of a colored candidate. It is sad but true; my community has to be educated about the fact that it isn’t the 70s, 80s, or 90s; other races and genders, besides the typical old and white figure, can be elected. As time progresses so should our ability to further evolve our thinking and unify our races. I love both democratic candidates, but come on America; I can’t believe the amount of people that fell for the 18 cent gas tax break, which is the worst and most conniving short term plan I have every heard of. Sorry, Hillary we love you, but I am also very educated and I know gas tax break disadvantages. Go to http://www.educatethem.com for a full rundown of the math and what it means. It is very obvious that Hillary’s only salvation is the “white, blue collar workers of America.” The Math isn’t in Hillary’s favor. She should drop out the race because from now until July it is obvious she is going to hurt Obama, which is a fellow democrat, until the end of the election. So, even if he wins the democratic vote, because of Hillary, the democrats are segregated and are not unified under the umbrella of “No BUSH 2,” also known as McCain. She made it obvious that if she can’t win then no one wins. She is just acting selfish right now and I am losing respect for her as the race continues. Drop out Hillary, help Obama, and kick out the republicans. This fight has gone way too long and you have embarrassed yourself as well as George Clinton. Have you seen the expression of former president Clintons face when the said “Full speed to the white house;” just priceless! As a former supporter for the Hillary campaign, until a month ago, when she started attacking like Conan the Barbarian, coming from a person, who voted for Hillary, it is time to stop and help senator Obama. He is young, energetic, smart, and will give great pride to the Democratic Party. Being selfish will the bring anything, but shame. .
May 12th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Go Hillary Go!!! Don’t let the bullies stop you… Keep up your
passion, conviction and perserverance… You are the one!!
May 12th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
When you don’t feel the pain! its easy to talk about little moneynot mattering…Shame on all o fyou! A vote for Obama is a vote for Desparity!
May 12th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Let’s be frank: everyone knows that West Virginia is packed with “blue collared conservatives”, aka uneducated racists. Who gives a rat’s ass what they vote? Isn’t that how Bush got elected? I am from Kentucky, so i know what I am talking about. Thank God I got out.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
while senator obama had the grace and sense of fair play to leave bill’s extracurriculur activities and hillary’s brushes with federal investigations out of the primary - i can assure you mccain is neither graceful or aware of what fair play means.
May 12th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Tomorrow’s (non-) contest in WV may well put Clinton over the top in the popular vote. As of tonight, Monday, Obama has 16.7 million votes as opposed to 16.6 million popular votes for Clinton. These totals do NOT include the disenfranchised voters from MI and FL, nor the alleged thousands of votes that were counted twice in NC (in favor of Obama…and why isn’t the media covering THAT story more fully?)
19% of Obama supporters claim they will not vote for Clinton in the GE if she is the nominee. That 19% has remained firm during the past three months. However, an astonishing 50% of Clinton supporters claim they will not vote for Obama, if the situation is reversed. That 50% is up substantially from 28% three months ago. That 50% represents 8.3 million voters who are disenchanted with Obama, and who may well “defect” to the Republican camp.
My query to Dean, Pelosi, Edwards, Hart, Brazile, the Kennedys and Mainstream Media is this: Which candidate do you think could actually WIN the election, and why do you continue to dismiss HER from this essentially tied race?
May 12th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I am a 50+ white woman who voted for Bill Clinton in the 90’s, but absolutely can’t stand Hillary because she’s such a liar. Anyone who follows the news like I do sees this very clearly, but those not paying attention have no clue. She’ll tell you whatever she thinks you want to hear…God people, wake up! Pay attention! They actually believed her gas tax hype….I guess it’s true that the less educated people vote for her.
May 13th, 2008 at 12:48 am
North Carolina will be the last state Obama wins so it was important for him to act like he is no longer running. Not very many urban areas in West Virgina. He can’t get the white vote for good reason. We have learned that racist are wrong and it doesn’t end with those that have white skin. Black racist like Obama pastor and Church are as ugly as any “KKK of A” there is.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:26 am
America be advised that blacks will not support senator clinton if the nominee is taken from obama. The most loyal voting block of the democractic party has been the black vote but this democratic primary could change the course of politics for a generation. As for me i support obama but have no problem voting for a republican. My social economic status is upper middle class with a college education so no matter how the far the economy falls or how high the the price of gas rises i will survive and i am comfortable with whoever becomes president. I Say this because most americans take my vote for granted as an automatic vote for the the democratic party. It is NOT nor will it be again if you take the nomination away from the candidate who has the most delegates.