Sen. Hillary Clinton, predictably declared the West Virginia winner right as the polls closed at 7:30, writes her supporters:
After tonight's tremendous victory here in West Virginia, it's clear that the pundits declaring this race over have it all wrong. The voters in West Virginia spoke loud and clear -- they want this contest to go on.I'm listening to the voters -- and to you.
With your help, I'm going to carry the energy of tonight's victory into the next contests in Kentucky and Oregon. And just as always, I'll be depending on you to share every step of this journey with me. You have worked your heart out, put yourself on the line for what you believe in, and given generously. And I'm not about to turn my back on you.
We've proved conventional wisdom wrong time and again in this race. We did it again tonight in West Virginia. Let's keep going.
Thank you,
Hillary
She also sends a text message:
After tonight's tremendous victory in West Virginia, this race is far from over. Keep the momentum going at www.hillaryclinton.com. Thanks for everything.
About two hours before the polls closed in West Virginia, Team Obama put out this memo setting expectations. Here are portions:
TO: Interested Parties
FR: The Obama Campaign
RE: West Virginia and Obama's Strong Position in the Race Ahead
DA: 5/13/08
There is no question that Senator Clinton is going to win by huge margins in the upcoming primaries in West Virginia today and Kentucky next weeks. She has poured resources into both states and she, former President Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton have all campaigned extraordinarily hard there.
The Clinton campaign has already been touting their margins in these states - In fact, Bill Clinton said that Hillary can win West Virginia with 80 percent—and the West Virginia Senate Majority Leader said Clinton needs to win by "80-20 or 90-10." And in keeping large margins in perspective, it is worth noting that, while Senator Clinton will win big in West Virginia, Barack Obama won neighboring Virginia by 29 points.
But with 49 contests behind us and only six to go -- including several states where we expect to do well -- Barack Obama leads in pledged delegates, contests won, and superdelegates. And for perspective, while 28 pledged delegates are up for grabs this evening, Obama has won the support of 27 superdelegates in the course of just the last week putting him less than 150 total delegates away from clinching the Democratic nomination.
Obama's Strong Position in the Race Ahead Nationally, Obama is running stronger among Independent voters than any winning Presidential candidate since 1988 and is significantly outperforming Sen. Clinton among these voters as well in general election polling.
To understand a potential general election match-up between Obama and McCain, the only analysis and data that should be considered valid are the current head-to-head National polls rather than extrapolating irrelevant assumptions from exit poll data in Democratic primaries.
And, on the issue of Democratic unity in the Fall, analysts need only consider that in April of 1992, on a night when Bill Clinton won four primaries and was the presumptive nominee, 6 in 10 Democratic primary voters said they wanted another candidate in the race. Despite this, five months later, Democratic voters were unified behind Clinton and he won his first of two terms in office.
Debunking Five Myths About Obama's Support
MYTH 1: The Primary has left Democrats divided.
FACT: Democrats are united behind Barack Obama, even more so than Republicans are united behind McCain...
MYTH 2: The Primary campaign has hurt Obama with swing voters and Republicans:
FACT: Obama is winning the swing voters against McCain by a wide margin....
MYTH 3: Obama cannot perform strongly enough among white voters:
FACT: Obama's is running as well or better than past Democratic Candidates among white voters....
MYTH 4: The race against Clinton has compromised Obama's position among women:
FACT: Obama has begun attracting the support of a broad coalition of women and is poised to win historic margins....
MYTH 5: Obama cannot win working class voters:
FACT: Obama is already winning working class voters
— Christina Bellantoni, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (5)
Hillary Clinton pulled a Johnny Cochrane in West Virginia, its that simple. "There was just an AP article posted that found how Senator Obama's support among working - hardworking Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how the, you know, whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me." - Hillary Clinton - Rocky Mountain News This is divisive politics of fear and not the path to bringing the nation together any more than Reverend Wright's ravings.
Posted by Larry Stone | May 14, 2008 2:28 AM
The overwhelming victory for Senator Hillary Clinton last night is BECAUSE the public has seen enough of Barack Obama and his untruths. Last night, Obama put on a �flag pin� after he said he would not wear it, �my actions will show my patriotism, and I will not wear the pin� and he flew over the state that was overwhelming voting for Hillary, in a landslide, to talk with some young students to convince them to vote for him. His strategy has become clear. He has a scare tactic for the young college students and he offers �hope� and �change�. We all know that there are problems to be solved. The bulk of the United States hard working families, middleclass Americans have seen the light and know that more than �hope� is needed to fix our problems. We need actions and results. We need an experienced person in the White House. We need someone that speaks from the heart and doesn�t �change� the game plan every other day (the flag pin is a good example because it just happened yesterday). I�m sure that someone on Obama campaign said wear the �darn� pin and after the election you can throw it into the wastepaper basket. The Rev. Wright, the statements and the statements about the hardworking Americans clinging to their religions because they are bitter ALL CAME OUT after Super Tuesday. This man has been found out and America is coming forth to tell you Democrats Superdelegates its over for your party, and �come November� we will either cast our vote for Hillary Clinton or John McCain
Posted by Anne Washington | May 14, 2008 9:49 AM
Larry Stone ,
You are showing disrespect to the people who cast their vote yesterday and to the many voters still waiting to do so.
We have been inundated with news snippets about the AA support for Obama , yet you call it divise and racist if one addresses the support of Whites for Clinton.
It was the Obama campaign who first pulled the race card and are you really surprised that eventually people would react to this.
To bring Cochrane and Rev. Wright into the equation ,shows your simple minded and mean spirited way of thinking.
This is a democratic process and should be allowed to run it's course.
Posted by Tara | May 14, 2008 11:33 AM
There is a reason that Hillary Clinton has a following of mostly uneducated working class individuals and fails to attract large support from educated indivduals, white or black. Educated (college degree) individuals usually are more informed and therefore have enough knowledge to see through her deception. Unfortunately,she just tricked all those thousands of voters In West Virginia who really beileve that she told them the truth !
Tara, Obama was not the one who pulled the race card but Bill Clinton starting in New Hamsphire and Sotuh Carolina which led to Hillary losing the black voters that was initially more for her than Obama.
This country should have enough of the Clinton's divisiveness. Wherever they are, there is division and discord. To cite a few of the many examples: During the Clinton Administration the Democrats lost the majority in both houses- continuous fighting amongst themselves (Democrats). Look at the list of persons associated with Bill and Hillary, who have died under a cloud of suspicion. What about Whitewater and Bill's extra martial activities, which dates back to him being the Governor of Arkansas?
How quickly America forgets about all of this and is ready to plunge back into the drama. I am not surprised at the recent challenges Obama, the lead candidate for the Democratic Party, was experiencing. Hillary said she was going to throw the kitchen sink at him, recklessly disregarding the wounds she is afflicting on the party. The word to describe this is pure selfish ambition.
WAKE UP DEMOCRATS BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE !
Posted by Lois | May 14, 2008 12:53 PM
I must say , Lois , your comment shows how ill informed you are and basically resort to a kitchen sink strategy comment yourself.
I believe one can call this political tabloid gossip.
How quickly America has forgotten the peace and prosperity they enjoyed during the Clinton administration.
However Hillary Clinton has proven that she is very capable to run on her own merits.
This is a democratic process and should be allowed to run it's course.
Posted by Tara | May 14, 2008 2:51 PM