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Opinion: Hillary Clinton wins in West Virginia, but what's the prize?
By Ryan Stone
from WillametteLive, Section Opinion
Posted on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 12:00:00 AM PDT

If you had just come from under a rock and the first thing you saw was the beginning of Senator Hillary Clinton's victory speech in West Virginia, you would assume that she just locked in the nomination. You would also probably assume that the race was just beginning, with her venomous reference saying "There are some who would want to cut this race short." Even for the most political junkies, this is the longest primary race in history. We're tired of the same old arguments. For those who may have been under a rock, Senator Clinton is not running for President of West Virginia, which she would indeed win handily.

Senator Clinton has won West Virginia and by a large margin. With 71 percent of the precincts reporting, Clinton has secured 16 delegates. Barack Obama has picked up 7 delegates. Barack Obama supporters on the liberal blog, DailyKos have been quick to respond to this victory by comparing Clinton's win to the margin that Obama has had in states such as Idaho, Georgia, Colorado, and many others.

But in reality, not that much has changed. If you listen to the Clinton campaign's spin (yes, they are spinning despite the fact that they won), the whole race has changed because she won 9 more delegates than Obama. They also think that all of a sudden the  superdelegates will change their mind because of this large margin. When will they realize that there are 50 states in the United States and that no single state will decide the upcoming election? The democrats in the Democratic Leadership Council have latched onto the 50-state strategy as a buzzword, but Obama is actually doing it.

Even after the win tonight, Clinton still trails Obama in pledged delegates and unpledged superdelegates. The Clinton campaign is adamant that the votes in Michigan and Florida be counted, which will help their candidate bump up the "magic" number of delegates needed to win. The outcome of the Florida and Michigan votes will be decided on May 31st, which is after the Oregon and Kentucky primaries and only three days before the final primary.

One thing was decided tonight. And that is that Senator Clinton plans to stay in the race until the final race on June 3. Howard Wolfson, Clinton's Communication Director, drilled that point home by saying that no candidate has dropped out of a race after a 30-point win. And there is no argument that Clinton has succeeded there.

Wolfson also made a remark that reminded me of Karl Rove. Rove was quoted in 2006 as saying, "You may end up with a different math, but you're entitled to your math. I'm entitled to 'the' math." And Wolfson said tonight that he doesn't follow any math that doesn't involve Michigan and Florida delegates. Sure, they're going to be seated at the convention, but there's only one math.

Battleground states are undetermined at this point. All states matter and all states can go red or purple this election.

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Supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton... (#1)
by Anonymous on Thu May 15, 2008 at 08:35:46 AM PDT
Given the dire economic climate we're living, we cannot afford to support an amateur presidential candidate who has no record of accomplishment (Sen. Obama). Senator Clinton has 35 years of experience fighting for the poor and middle class, ethnic minorities, women, GLBT communities, and the environment. She was the first candidate and is still the only candidate to establish clear, comprehensive action plans for Oregon's energy initiatives, job creation, affordable higher education, universal health care, solutions to end poverty, and solutions for the mortgage crisis. Senator Clinton also offers thorough plans for her first 100 days in the White House including port/infrastructure security, ending the war, and foreign policy related to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, and Israel.

We need someone who can beat the Republican machine and stop the Bush replica from racking up another victory. That individual is Senator Hillary Clinton! If the election were held today, Clinton would defeat McCain in the Electoral College because of her lead in working-class big, electoral-rich states. She has won all states that will be integral to beating McCain in November including Indiana, Ohio, PA, FL, MI, TX, and WV (by 40 points, I might add) -- are blue collar, swing vote states in the Gen. Election. Obama has failed to make his case in these crucial states.


The Will of (Only the Healthy) People? (#2)
by AwfulCaucusSkew on Sat May 17, 2008 at 01:08:15 PM PDT
The Math is Not the Math. As for pledged delegates & popular vote, in Caucus States housebound & bedbound older women were forbidden Absentee Ballots & so do NOT show up in those false counts.

87-yr-old Vera in Iowa was typical, "Oh no honey, I can't dare go out to caucus, I'm off-balance. If I can't get there in my body, I don't count." It's shameful.  (16% swing in Texas between Absentee-Balloted primary & the Voters-Suppressing Caucus on the same day.) SUPPOSE we had ONLY seen the Caucus Results in Texas? THAT'S what happened in Iowa all those other Caucus States.

(Suppose 16% of black voters were forbidden to vote for Senator Obama? Would we be crazed with outrage against the anti-democracy? I would be.)

Hillary is the champion for so many whose dispossessed sorrow or rage is transformed to courage at her example. For her remarkable visions of our Green Future and for actually Universal HealthCare -- for our children's children, Hillary is the best choice.




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