If you were anywhere near a television last night (or in a bar), you watched Hillary Clinton win a convincing victory in West Virginia last night.
While the Obama camp has been acting like the nomination is a done deal, Clinton was making what may be her first appeal to superdelegates in a victory speech. "Choose who you think will be the best candidate in November," she told a crowd of supporters there last night. Clinton won the state by an overwhelming majority - no surprise given the demographics. Clinton has consistently polled well among white, working-class voters, especially voters from rural areas who lack formal education.
"This continues to be a hard-fought race from one end of our country to the other," she said. Except that Democratic party elders don't think so. And the national press has all but written her off, as has the GOP and the Obama campaign. While Clinton was basking in the glow of the 27 delegates she won last night, Barack Obama, who made only two campaign stops in the Mountain State, was busy addressing voters in Missouri, a state whose primary has come and gone. "...I know that we'll be able to come together quickly behind a common purpose. There's too much that unites us as Democrats. There's too much at stake for our country," Obama told supporters in Cape Girardeau, Mo., shortly before polls closed in West Virginia.
But does this vote really mean anything? With more than a dozen superdelegates moving over to Obama in the week since Indiana and North Carolina, it sure looks like the party has settled on its candidate. With Clinton standing to win Kentucky next week, and Obama planning a win in Oregon, plus a flood of superdelegates between now and then, its only a question of what Hillary will do with her base come August.
Photo from Hillary Clinton's campaign Flickrstream
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Hillary. Please. Go. AWAY!
May 20th. Mark your calendars. It'll all be over.
I'm asking this cause I truly don't know the answer. What's the rationale of having primaries/caucuses on different days?
Being a former Indiana resident, I think it's awesome that they FINALLY were able to vote and actually feel like the decision hadn't already been made for them.
Why doesn't the party just have one big election day? We'd know who won and who was conceding and could all move on to the bigger goal.
Ya see this is why I, yer Spook, is really beginning to hate the demo rat ic party! Opps sorry, I meant to write democratic party! For the same reason how a long term Progressive Democratic Congressman was excluded from "Our" national debates! They’re doing all that they can to kill Hillary Clinton's Campaign and her voice!
It’s not like she is continuing to lose! Just because the demo rat ic system is terribly flawed, -opps sorry, Chicago Public Schools education here- I meant to type democratic system is flawed, doesn’t mean Hillary should drop out of the race as long as she continues to win states!
I guess “change” means a Red Eye Campaign with out issues for the elitist demo rat ic party, sorry I mean the elitist democratic party.
Hillary Please continue to represent the voices of all working class and poor Americans!
That's on every thang!
@Mary:
How can the candidates be expected to campaign in 50 states at ONCE? They would end up just campaigning in the biggest/most contested states and little states/rural areas would get no attention.
It is basically for the same reasons we still have an electoral college.
I'm asking this cause I truly don't know the answer. What's the rationale of having primaries/caucuses on different days?
Mostly tradition, but it does have several advantages. In most years, it significantly lowers the cost. Not this year, of course, after the expensive states moved their primaries up. There's quite a bit more free media coverage. In an all-at-once system, there's no reason at all to care about smaller states.
Most importantly, IMO:
It also helps the campaigns to weed out strategies and staffers that won't get traction/do good work in the general election. A Samantha Powers remark in the general could have been a disaster and Mark Penn could have brought a Clinton candidacy with misguided advise.
(the above should have read "brought down a Clinton candidacy...")
I think everyone who says Hillary should leave the race is a short term thinker. Even if you're 100% Obama (Which, may I ask, why? Because he's change? Why didn't you vote for a real change like Kucinich or Gravel?), you should realize that even if Hillary plays dirty, her digging up dirt now will spare Obama this dirt showing up late in the race in the general election. So how does it hurt? It doesn't.
So WV doesn't mean much, but it's important for Hillary to stay in the race.
Um, if you are a democrat, any democrat is better than McCain at this point. And what Hillary is doing by staying in the race is dragging out the inevitable and raising BOTH their negative ratings so that independents are defecting to McCain. For her to stay in at this point is both stupid (she is out of money) and selfish (she is wrecking the party).
Yeah, there's nothing elitist about lending $11 million dollars to your failing campaign. That shows true working class values.
And what Hillary is doing by staying in the race is dragging out the inevitable and raising BOTH their negative ratings so that independents are defecting to McCain.
What she is also doing is making sure that her ardent supporters don't feel like she was chased out of the race. If she stays in until she fizzles, they're less likely to remain, er, bitter and more likely to see it as her campaign's own failings.
I think there's a typo in your headline. Shouldn't it read, "Hillary Wins West Virginia - So What?"
Generally in terms of discrimination, race trumps gender in America. But in this case clearly America is not ready for a Women President even if she is white!
In every Presidential Election, Pennsylvania, Florida, West Virginia, and Ohio are crucial must win states! Hillary won all four of them! Yet instead of THIS being the story, the story is "what does she want?"
Well, She wants to be President!
The demo rats, opps I mean democrats are always pandering to white middle America by trying to be junior republicans and they always fail.
Hillary Rodham Clinton comes along and (just like her husband) taps into and reaches them with their economic realities, only to be shunned, mocked! This is outrageous!
Just wait till McCain wins. You fools will be to blame as much as the Demo-rats leading this short yellow school bus of a political party.
Clinton's win in W.Va and her probable win in Kentucky are irrelevant. Anybody who thinks either West Virginia or Kentucky will go Democrat in November has never been to West Virginia or Kentucky.
Obama's only move here is to act like he has it locked up. Why? Becuase he's got it locked up.
now what?
Chicken butt.
I mean, that's pretty much all that can be said to this insignificant victory.
She's done. I think the Demotivators sign that says,
"Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win AND never quit are idiots."
pretty much sums everything up.