Clinton camp: KY turnout is key to nomination hopes

A key to U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's strategy to lock up the Democratic presidential nomination is surpassing U.S. Sen. Barack Obama in the total popular vote, a top campaign aide said Thursday. 

Obama currently leads Clinton in total pledged delegates, number of states won and the popular vote with just six states left to vote. That has left Clinton and her campaign supporters fielding endless questions about whether she plans to stay in the race and how she can possibly pull off a win.

The two candidates have so far virtually split the more than 500 Democratic superdelegates who have picked sides. Another 260 remain undecided.

Neither candidate can win without those superdelegates, who will cast their votes at the national convention, said Terry McAuliffe, chairman of Clinton's campaign and former DNC chairman.

To help sway the undecided superdelegates in early June, Clinton's campaign hopes to win the popular vote. To do that, Clinton will need heavy voter turnout in the remaining primaries -- Kentucky, West Virginia, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Montana -- that still have primaries on the calendar.

McAuliffe said driving up the number of voters who show up in those states, especially ones that favor Clinton in early polls, such as Kentucky, West Virginia and Puerto Rico, is a big part of the strategy.

"This is why Kentucky is critical for us. We not only have to have a very good win in Kentucky but a very good turnout," McAuliffe told Kentucky reporters on a conference call Thursday. "I firmly believe ... by the end of this process, we will have moved ahead in the popular vote."

- Ryan Alessi

 

Comments

[shaun Goff]

What the democratic party doesn't realize is, that moderate republicans like myself will most likely vote for Clinton in the fall but will not vote for Obama in the fall.
So, who which Democrat should quit now? Obama of course. Clinton is more likely to win the white working class both Republican and Democrat vote whereby Obama will not. Do the math and you will see who is most able to defeat McCain in the fall and that would be Clinton.

[Roger]

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/08/na-hillarys-arrogance-only-thing-keeping-her-going/

"A long shot since Super Tuesday, in miracle-needed territory more recently, for Clinton to win the Democratic nomination now the universe would have to be reordered. With each new shortfall, more superdelegates slip to Barack Obama, and the next campaign dollar becomes harder to raise."

http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-oe-brooks8-2008may08,1,4555498.column

"With Clinton's prospects of victory in the nominating contest near zero -- and poll data suggesting that the bitter, protracted contest poses real dangers for the Democratic Party come November -- [whether Clinton is right to stay in the race is] a fair issue for Democrats and the media to raise."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/opinion/08kristof.html

" 'I’m staying in this race until there is a nominee,' Mrs. Clinton declared on Wednesday. If the battle continues all the way up to the convention in August, the chaos over delegates from Florida and Michigan will complicate the Democrats' chances of winning both states. In that case, Mrs. Clinton may be remembered as the spoiler of 2008."

[jchbrock]

But, what is the will of the people?

About the pundits declaring the race is over, we think they are ignoring the fatal flaw in the Democratic nominating process. We have not read one article or heard one pundit talk about why caucuses do not necessarily reflect the will of the people. Obama owes his lead in pledged delegates to the twelve caucuses.

So, what is the problem? Caucuses disenfranchise Hillary's main voter base: older voters, working people who cannot afford baby sitters or take time off to participate in the lengthy caucus process, and, last but not least, the many women who are intimidated or feel pressured by the public aspect of caucuses. Many of these voters use absentee ballots in primary states. To prove to yourself that the caucus results do not represent the voting population of a state, compare the results of caucuses to the results of primaries (see the Map on the website election.msn.com, for example).

We call on the superdelegates to study the caucus issue and what it means in this election before the media makes the decision for them. Hillary Rodham Clinton has shown that she is the most electable Democrat based on the results in primary states.

[Bill Adkins]

Oh, get real!! ".... moderate republicans like myself will most likely vote for Clinton in the fall but will not vote for Obama in the fall."

There's no question that the Republicans would prefer to run against Hillary - that would energize their base, get people out to vote who otherwise will stay home. It's the only slim chance John McWho has in the fall. Right now, no one even knows who McWho is, all the buzz is about Democrats. And that the race has gone on so long as energized the Democrat Party, brough more people into the fold, attracted REAL moderate Republicans to Obama and to Hillary and those people will be at the polls in the fall. It'll be a replay of LBJ/Goldwater in '64.

[Weatherman]

I hope Osama is the nominee....shootin' fish in a barrel.

[Wow!]

This Republican is elated that Obama will be the Democrat nominee. He cannot hold a candle to McCain's experience.

I hear that there are quiet discussions going on to name Hillary as McCain's VP. Won't that mix things up?! Word also has it that Colin Powell is the leading candidate for Obama's VP, giving the Dems an all black ticket. How crazy can it get?!

[Bill Adkins]

You may be elated that Obama will be the Democrat nominee. I am elated that John McWho is lined up to lose to him.