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CHARLESTON, West Virginia: Hillary Clinton celebrated
her rout of Barack Obama in West Virginia on Tuesday, but it was a
bittersweet victory colored by her Democratic rival’s daunting
lead in the nomination race.
Bringing only 28 of the 2,025
delegates needed for the nomination, the West Virginia victory was
not enough to upset the math that seems destined to propel Obama to
the Democratic presidential nomination.
While the New York senator
renewed her vow to stay in the race, she appeared subdued in her
victory speech and pointedly avoided any jabs at the frontrunner
Obama after months of hard-hitting political combat.
Her more conciliatory tone hinted
at an effort to heal wounds in the party and lay the ground for a
possible exit as the White House prize appeared more and more out of
reach.
“I will work my heart out for
the nominee of the Democratic Party to make sure we have a
Democratic president,” Clinton said.
With only a handful of contests
left and her rival Obama enjoying a formidable mathematical edge,
Clinton painted herself as a plucky underdog and promised to stay in
the fight.
“You know I never give up, and
I’ll keep coming back and I’ll stand with you as long as you
stand with me,” Clinton said to cheering supporters at a rally in
Charleston.
Just as her presidential
prospects looked shaky, Clinton seems to have hit her stride on the
campaign trail, presenting her speeches with a confident ease
instead of the stiff delivery that marked the outset of her effort.
In the days leading up to the
primary, the former first lady carried a feisty populist message up
and down the poor, rural state.
Pacing and punching the air, she
slammed tax cuts for the wealthy and accused President George W.
Bush of failing to protect consumers from high oil prices.
It was no coincidence that
Clinton’s more relaxed manner came as the race’s outcome became
clear, lifting the burdens of a tense duel, said Larry Sabato,
professor of political science at the University of Virginia.
“Of course she’s enjoying it.
She’s going to have a landslide in West Virginia, in Kentucky, and
Puerto Rico,” referring to upcoming contests after Tuesday’s
vote.
US commentators speculate she
could be gunning to be Obama’s vice-presidential running mate, or
for an influential role in his administration should he defeat
Republican John McCain in November.
Obama now has the support of 284
superdelegates, against 272 for Clinton, according to the latest
tally by the independent website RealClearPolitics. In total, he has
1,882 delegates to her 1,714, and is considerably closer to the
winning line of 2,025.
--AFP
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