Clinton vows to go through June 3
Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:32 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Mike Memoli
LOUISVILLE, Kent. -- Clinton marked another dominating primary victory by again appealing for her party's patience, saying she will continue to make her case “until we have a nominee, whoever she may be.”
“Neither Sen. Obama nor I has won the 2,210 delegates required to secure the nomination,” she said, using a threshold that includes disputed delegates from Michigan and Florida. “And because this race is so close -- still separated by less than 200 delegates out of more than 4,400 -- neither Sen. Obama nor I will have reached that magic number when the voting ends on June the 3rd. So our party will have a tough choice to make. Who’s ready to lead our party on the top of the ticket? Who is ready to defeat Sen. McCain in the swing states?”
Despite an expected loss in Oregon tonight, Clinton said she will keep campaigning in the three remaining contests, and pushing for a resolution to the Florida and Michigan situation. In fact, Clinton travels to Florida tomorrow for three events.
“Democrats in those two states cast 2.3 million votes and they deserve to have those votes counted,” she said.
Clinton says she is fighting on “not because I want to demonstrate my toughness but because I believe passionately that for the sake of our country, the Democrats must take back the White House.”
“This is one of the closest races for a party’s nomination in our history,” she said. “We’re winning the popular vote and I’m more determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot counted. I commend Sen. Obama and his supporters, and while we continue to go toe to toe for this nomination, we do see eye to eye when it comes to uniting our party to elect a Democratic president.”
Campaign staffers said they were "thrilled" with what they considered a larger-than-expected margin. Clinton again claimed to have won more votes than anyone who’s ever run for the party’s nomination before.
"Now why, why do millions keep turning out to vote in the face of naysayers and skeptics,” she said. “Because you know that our political process is more than candidates running, or the pundits chattering, or the ads airing. It’s about the path we choose as a nation and whether or not we will solve our toughest problems.”
Shortly before her speech, Obama announced another impressive fundraising haul. Clinton noted that she was “massively” outspent in Kentucky and Oregon, and again urged supporters to visit her Web site and contribute. So predictable was this appeal that the crowd in the hotel ballroom joined her in shouting out the Web address.
Clinton opened her remarks by praising Sen. Ted Kennedy as “one of the greatest progressive leaders in our party’s history, and one of the most effective senators in our country’s history.” She said his work as a “champion for social justice and equality” has made the path “easier for me, for Senator Obama, and for countless others.”
“He’s been with us for our fights, and we’re with him now in his,” she said.
After returning to Washington tonight, Clinton will press her popular vote talking points in Florida, before returning for Senate business on Thursday. The South Dakota campaign has said she will return there Friday.
