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Hillary wins West Virginia, vows to not back out
Published on Wed, May 14, 2008 at 08:07, Updated at Wed, May 14, 2008 in 
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GOING ON: Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledges supporters.
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Washington: Sen. Hillary Clinton on Tuesday used her big win in West Virginia to make her case that the Democratic race should go on.
"I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign," she told supporters in Charleston, West Virginia.
As early results came in, Clinton was ahead of Sen. Barack Obama by about a 2-1 margin.
Clinton has faced calls to drop out of the race. She trails Obama in delegates won, states won and the popular vote this primary season. Clinton also now trails Obama when it comes to the support of superdelegates, and her campaign is $20 million in the red.
Howard Wolfson, Clinton's communication director, said the New York senator is "in until the very end."
"We think we're going to be the nominee. We're going to make our case to the superdelegates," he told CNN.
In an e-mail to supporters, the Clinton campaign called West Virginia a "tremendous victory."
"It's clear that the pundits declaring this race over have it all wrong. The voters in West Virginia spoke loud and clear -- they want this contest to go on."
Clinton's campaign argues that she can catch Obama in the popular vote by turning out the vote in the remaining five contests.
West Virginia is home to older, white and working-class voters -- all strong voting blocs for Clinton in past contests.
Just 3 per cent of the population is black. Obama has overwhelmingly capture the black vote throughout the campaign season.
Clinton's win won't do much to cut into Obama's lead -- West Virginia had just 28 delegates at stake. Those delegates will be awarded proportionately.
Clinton has continued to tout her electability, saying she's the stronger candidate to go up against Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, in November.
"I'm winning Catholic voters and Hispanic voters and blue-collar workers and seniors, the kind of people that Sen. McCain will be fighting for in the general election," Clinton said.
Clinton is also using electoral history to make her case.
"I think it's fair to say that West Virginia is a test. It's a test for me, and it's a test for Sen. Obama, because for too long we have let places like West Virginia slip out of the Democratic column. And you know it is a fact that no Democratic president has ever won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia," Clinton said.
Bill Clinton won West Virginia in 1992 and 1996. George W. Bush took the state in 2000 and 2004.
Exit polls in West Virginia suggest a strong division among Democrats.
Almost as many of Clinton's West Virginia supporters would vote for McCain as would for Obama, the polls show.
If Obama were the Democratic nominee, 36 per cent of Clinton supporters would vote for him in the fall, the polls found.
But 35 per cent said they'd cast their vote for McCain instead.
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