West Virginia, Mountain Mama
Posted: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 9:11 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Democrats, 2008, Primaries
The Charleston (WV) Gazette covered both candidates’ campaign stops in the state yesterday. “As her weeklong tour of West Virginia drew to a close Monday, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton told her supporters that she needs their votes in today's primary if she's going to be the next president. ‘I'm going to work as hard as I can until the polls close tomorrow,’ she told several hundred people at Logan High School Monday afternoon. ‘This going to be a crucial turning point in the election, If you stand up for me [today], I will stand up for you every single day [in the White House].’”
The Los Angeles Times: "Clinton is expected to trounce Obama in West Virginia tonight, after which she'll doubtless bound onto a stage in Charleston to roaring cheers, bobbing signs and a sea of hats. It is sure to look like a victory in every sense, except one: Few people believe that a Clinton victory here would alter the arithmetic that seems to be guiding Obama to their party's presidential nomination.”
So what does Clinton want from West Virginia and the remaining contests? The New York Times attempts to answer that question. "[S]he and her chief political counselor, her husband, see the two coming primaries as crucial to strengthening her standing and, if it comes to it, to allowing her to leave the race on a high note, the advisers say. Sizable victories -- the Clinton camp believes it could win West Virginia by 25 points or more -- might put pressure on Mr. Obama to agree to her demands to seat the disputed delegates from Michigan and Florida, some of her advisers say, which would let her claim a victory on a battle she has fought for months. Accumulating victories this late in the primary season -- as Mr. Obama looks so strong -- might also bolster a bid for the vice presidency, should she decide to seek it. (Whether Mr. Obama would ask her, however, is very much in doubt.)"
The Charleston Gazette endorsed Obama. “Political leaders who opposed the Iraq invasion and the ongoing 5-year-old war have also been outspoken in demanding more money to help veterans - money to help pay for college educations and money to care for their injuries. Ironically, leaders backing the disastrous war often seem far less interested in healing the physical, mental and psychological wounds that will haunt so many soldiers during the rest of their lives. Obama offers West Virginia and the nation hard work, intelligence and wisdom. His inclusive, uplifting way of communicating with people of all backgrounds will help restore the United States' place in the minds of people around the world, and here at home.”
Obama also wrote an op-ed in the paper. “West Virginia knows we need less tough talk and more sound judgment on national security. We can't afford the same politics of fear that tells Democrats that the only way to look tough is to talk, act, and vote like George Bush and John McCain. When I am president, I will end a war in Iraq that I opposed from the start, give our troops and military families the support they have earned, and finish the fight in Afghanistan.”
