Dogged by Low Poll Numbers, Obama Heads Into West Virginia Unfazed

By: Michelle Levi
Topics: Barack Obama

From CBS News' Michelle Levi:

CHICAGO -- With news of a new poll showing Hillary Clinton up big in West Virginia, Barack Obama heads there today - on the eve of the primary - for a town hall on veterans' affairs.

The campaign heads to the Mountain State today amidst discouraging poll results which show West Virginians are not ready to call the race for Obama. A Suffolk University poll taken over the weekend shows Clinton leading Obama by 36 points among likely Democratic voters. Possibly more disappointing to the Obama campaign, the poll shows 44 percent favor Obama while Clinton's favorabilty there is 70 percent.

These numbers come as no real surprise to campaign watchers, however, and Obama's schedule has reflected this. Today's trip to West Virginia is his first before tomorrow's primary.

Meantime, Obama has spent the past week, since his big win in North Carolina and close loss in Indiana last Tuesday, focusing more on John McCain and very little on Clinton. So, while tomorrow's predicted loss looms, he's unfazed since the reality is setting in that Clinton has virtually no chance of capturing the nomination at this point.

Campaigning in Oregon late last week and efforting to not sound overconfident, Obama mentioned his uphill battles in West Virginia and Kentucky, another state where Clinton is expected to perform well.

"We do not have this nomination locked up, so we are still competing. She is going to do very well in West Virginia. She will win these states in all likelihood by significant margins," said Obama.

Obama campaign spokesperson Jen Psaki explains, "We know that we are the underdog in both Kentucky and West Virginia. After almost two decades of campaigning in these states, Senator Clinton starts with a quite a head start. But we are going to fight hard to earn as many votes as we can get and hopefully overcome the institutional advantages she has."

Today, he will speak will speak to a group of about 1,000 people at the Charleston town hall meeting and there will be between 150 and 200 veterans in attendance. Obama will be introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V. and his wife Sharon. Rockefeller caused a bit of a headache for Obama earlier this spring when he suggested McCain disregarded Vietnam victims and had a fiery temper.

Obama has plans to campaign in Missouri, an important swing state for the Democrats next fall, tomorrow afternoon after an event in Lexington, Ky., another indictaion that his campaign has begun to focus on the general election.

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by blackmilitan May 12, 2008 7:11 PM EDT: Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn, an Obama supporter, compared Clinton to the Glenn Close character in "Fatal Attraction" -- a spurned woman turned stalker who was apparently drowned in a bathtub only to jump up one more time to be shot dead.

"Glenn Close should have stayed in that tub, and Sen. Clinton has had a remarkable career and needs to move to the next step, which is helping elect the Democratic nominee," Cohen said during a local TV interview. He later apologized for his comments.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=4835378&page=1; Reply to this comment


by craigh9 May 12, 2008 6:54 PM EDT: counting the remaining primaries going as expected - Obama only needs 53 more superdelegates according to the CNN counter to reach 2025. It doesn''''t make any sense to spend millions of dollars to close the gap in WV or KY to pick up a pledged delegate or 2. Unlike Hillary, Obama shows a little bit of financial savy regarding these situations.

OOPS - DOWN TO NEEDING ONLY 49 NOW; Reply to this comment


by sjc_1 May 12, 2008 6:38 PM EDT: Why should he be "fazed"? He has half the country eating out of his hand like a bunch of cultist sheep. Maybe the people in WV are not in a trance and actually can tell a slick line from the truth.; Reply to this comment


by karela33 May 12, 2008 6:35 PM EDT: There''s a reason Obama doesn''t need to feel too stressed about West Virginia. Mrs. Clinton rates a 60% in West Virginia according to today''s Suffolk poll. Obama has won 14 elections by 60% or greater including, Alaska, Georgia, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, Virginia, Washington state and Wyoming. He also had big wins in North Carolina at 56%, Vermont at 59% and Wisconsin at 58%. For whatever reasons, West Virginia has not favored Obama as strongly as most other states have, but this is not 1919 and with a fifty state strategy, there are other options including Oregon and Washington where the large population masses west of the mountains favor Obama. The only states Mrs. Clinton has won with greater than 56% are her two home states of New York and Arkansas along with Rhode Island. If she wins, West Virginia and Kentucky as expected, she will have a total of seventeen wins. Obama has twice as many wins and seventeen of those wins were big crushers. Obama has worked for every vote and considers every person important, but he can weather this situation with West Virginia and Kentucky quite well.; Reply to this comment


by renonv5 May 12, 2008 6:23 PM EDT: darryall1911, I think you meant to say "Obama watch out" because the republicans haven''t even started yet and your man Hussein is no where near ready for that. Perhaps you don''t understand how this game is played, but pay attention and you will learn that the ploy from the very beginning was to have Obama win and go up against the GOP. They will make mincemeat out of him. Stay tuned!; Reply to this comment


by obama8years May 12, 2008 5:27 PM EDT: What about the institutional advantage of Obama 92% black vote in North Carolina. Looks like the Chickens have come home to roost.; Reply to this comment


by obama8years May 12, 2008 5:25 PM EDT: People are skeptical of Obama. His credibiltiy is destroyed by the wright scandal.; Reply to this comment


by realpatriot1 May 12, 2008 3:56 PM EDT: tracymorgan,

And yet he''s still even or ahead in the states he needs to win.

jack3213,

Will McCain keep his promises? It would be the first time! He flip flops more than Romney!

Republicans ridiculed Bill Clinton in 1992 when he promised to balance the budget and create 8 million jobs...he did both!

Bush promised to bring dignity back to the White House and to have a humble foreign policy. Gingrich promised term limits, a line item veto,fiscal responsibility, and ethics in government.

The promises being made by the Democratic candidates are far more modest, doable, and necessary than McCain''s insane promises to stay the course on the economy and Iraq.; Reply to this comment


by realpatriot1 May 12, 2008 3:48 PM EDT: Eyzwidopn,

He was concentrating on every state while Hillary was writing them off back in February, that''s why the contest is now over and it''s time to focus on the General
Election.

He''s going to West Virginia but what would be the point of camping out there when he needs to focus on taking on McCain?

Just because the lady in the pants suit isn''t ready to say it''s over doesn''t mean he has to dance to her tune.; Reply to this comment