Lady's not for turning, Clinton goes on

Last Modified: 14 May 2008
By: Felicity Spector

Hillary Clinton's landslide in West Virginia last night injects new lease of life into her campaign - even if victory's done little to change the numbers game.

Obama barely campaigned in the Mountain state - and even conceded defeat a day before the voting took place.

But it's all made Clinton more determined than ever to carry on.

She's already back on the trail, touring forthcoming Primary states, with wins predicted in Kentucky and Puerto Rico.

"The White House is won in the swing states," she said last night, "and I am winning the swing states."

It could be about quitting while you're ahead but Clinton badly needs to raise more cash otherwise she stands to lose the millions she's loaned to her own campaign.

There are also clear political reasons for carrying on, and it's that issue which dare not speak its name - race.

Today she and her staff are meeting a series of top donors and congressional superdelegates to discuss her plans heading into June - with around forty turning up for a detailed session of Q and A.

Her campaign finance chairman Alan Patricof admits "its getting harder to raise money - the number of people you can go after is shrinking after 17 months."

And there's a warning from an un-named DNC member: "her money people are starting to say 'fold it' and she needs to get them back in line."

There are also clear political reasons for carrying on, and it's that issue which dare not speak its name - race.

Obama lost in West Virginia by roughly two to one - that's one of the biggest margins of any primary vote.

And according to exit polls, one in five white Democrats said race was a factor in their vote.

This was Clinton's natural constituency: Bill Clinton carried the state in '92 and '96 - although it swung Bush's way in 2000. Two fifths of voters were over sixty, seventy percent didn't have a college degree - and a high proportion were from low income families.

But class, age, education - although all these were factors, underlying all of them was race.

As Time's Michael Grunwald put it: "It's just that for Obama, well, this is awkward, but he's, um, black, and most voters aren't.... one in four Clinton voters said race was an important factor, which is amazing in an era where people who think like that aren't supposed to admit it.

"Shouldn't they at least have pretended their issue with Obama was that he is an elitist?"

These are the people who claim they'd rather vote for John McCain come November, if Obama ends up as the nominee.

Frightening stuff, for the party.

But the Illinois senator has won plenty of white voters along the way: he did win Iowa, Idaho, Colorado and Virginia.

But that image of the Reverend Wright still hangs over him, and believe it or not, there are still plenty who think he's a Muslim, and somehow unAmerican.

Right now, Obama has a whole swathe of events aimed at winning over more blue collar support - touting his plans to raise the minimum wage and revive the economy.

And it's Clinton who's fighting to stay alive.

She's trailing in the popular vote. She's behind in pledged delegates - and now, in superdelegates too. The numbers just don't add up: and to cap it all, one of her most senior supporters - James Carville, has even called Obama the likely nominee.

But no hint of surrender just yet. "She's in it to the end," Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe told supporters last night "She's going to Denver as the nominee!"

As for November, when it comes down to the real contest - the Democratic base will turn out for the nominee, whoever it is.

And nationally, the polls still suggest Obama will beat McCain - he's leading among independent voters - and in almost every income group bar the very wealthiest. And, says the Washington Post - no Democratic president since LBJ has ever won the white vote anyway.

So the race continues, the fight for ever vote: the relentless campaigning carries on. And maybe, just maybe, that's the way the system should work.

No-one gives up, no-one concedes; the people get to have their say. Isn't that what democracy is meant to be?