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Clinton's Campaign Chairman Says Contest Will Be Decided in June
By Scott Martelle and Bob Drogin
The Los Angeles Times
Thursday 08 May 2008
If she doesn't emerge as the presumptive
nominee then, the New York senator would campaign for Obama, Terry McAuliffe
says. In West Virginia, she modifies speech to make winning nomination an 'if.'
Charleston, West Virginia - As talk swirled this morning over when Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton should end her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, her
campaign chairman predicted the party would have a presumptive nominee in June
and, if it's not Clinton, she would campaign for Sen. Barack Obama.
The comments by Terry McAuliffe seemed aimed at persuading superdelegates and
Democratic Party leaders that Clinton would not hurt party unity by pressing
her campaign through the final June 3 primaries in Montana and South Dakota.
"She can win the states we need to win in the general election,"
McAuliffe said on NBC's "Today" show. "Until there is a nominee
with the number of necessary delegates, why should she get out?"
Here in Charleston, Clinton told several hundred supporters in the marble-lined
dome of the state Capitol that pressure is growing from party leaders and pundits
for her to drop out of the race.
"Some folks say, 'You've got end this before you get to West Virginia,'
" she said. "I think we want to keep this going so the people of West
Virginia's voices are heard."
She argued that she came under similar pressure to quit after losing Iowa in
January, after losing more states than Obama on Super Tuesday in February, and
at other disappointing points in the long campaign.
Clinton sounded almost wistful at times as she pleaded for support.
"A lot of you have stuck with me," she said. "You've been there
through the ups and downs, the toughest moments."
Clinton also modified her stump speech to acknowledge the overwhelming odds
she now faces. She promised to help working Americans "if" she wins
the White House, not when, as she has vowed in the past.
"The delegate math may be complicated, but the electoral math is easy,"
Clinton said, arguing that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is a "formidable
opponent" and that she has won more "swing states" - such as
Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania - than Obama.
Obama, meanwhile, was spending the morning on Capitol Hill wooing superdelegates
even as he picked up a significant new supporter - David Bonior, 2008 campaign
manager for John Edwards, who has yet to endorse either of his rivals for the
Democratic nomination.
In a statement released through the Obama campaign, Bonior, a former congressman
from Michigan, described Tuesday as "a critical moment in this race,"
with Obama winning North Carolina by a wide margin and narrowly falling to Clinton
in Indiana.
"Because Barack Obama continues to run a positive campaign that focuses
on the issues that matter to ordinary Americans, he has won a commanding lead
in this race, and I believe he can and will defeat John McCain in November,"
Bonior said. "Now is the time to unite behind Barack Obama so we can end
business as usual in Washington and fulfill our moral obligation to America's
hardworking families."
In Washington, Obama made a surprise visit to the House chamber, zeroing in
on the superdelegates - but drawing a fair share of Republican greeters too.
Obama spoke briefly with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland as well as some Clinton supporters, including
Democratic Reps. Ellen O. Tauscher of Alamo and Alcee Hastings of Florida.
Late Wednesday, former President Carter said Democratic superdelegates should
back whichever candidate won the most states, votes and delegates - which right
now is Obama.
"I can't imagine that the superdelegates would go against them,"
said Carter, an uncommitted superdelegate who has indicated he leans toward
Obama. "It would be a catastrophe for the party."
But the Clinton campaign showed no signs of slowing down. The New York senator
began the day with an appearance in Charleston, W. Va., then was to fly on to
Sioux Falls, S.D., and finish the day with an event in Central Point, Ore. -
all states still to hold nominating contests.
And Bill Clinton planned five appearances in West Virginia, a state his wife
is favored to win Tuesday. But analysts generally agree that barring a tidal
shift in support away from Obama, Clinton has little chance of overtaking the
Illinois senator's delegate lead, which would leave the decision in the hands
of the party superdelegates.
Clinton hopes that strong showings in the last few states will help her make
the case to those uncommitted superdelegates that she has momentum and is better
able to compete against McCain in crucial swing states in the fall.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, is in the New York City area today,
where his light schedule includes a fund-raiser and a planned appearance this
evening at the gala for Time magazine's "Time 100" list of the world's
most influential people.
Obama and Clinton also made the list but were not scheduled to attend.
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Times staff writers Maeve Reston in New York and Richard Simon in
Washington contributed to this report.
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