It's Far From Over, Says Clinton
From CBS News' Ryan Corsaro:
MAYSVILLE, KY. -- As Kentucky and Oregon prepare to vote in primaries tomorrow, Hillary Clinton is maintaining she has stronger voting numbers than Barack Obama to win a general election, and that the race for the Democratic nomination is far from over. "I'm sure glad nobody pulled the plug on this election before we got to Kentucky!" shouted Clinton after she took the stage this morning. She was greeted by 600 supporters in a gymnasium in Maysville, standing before a giant wall that read "HOME OF THE LADY ROYALS."
"I'm going to make my case until we have a nominee," said Clinton, vowing the race was nowhere near over. "But we're not going to have one today, we're not going to have one tomorrow, we're not going to have one the next day, and if Kentucky turns out tomorrow, I will be closer to that nomination."
"So, we've got to figure out, who can win 270 electoral votes? My opponent has 217 electoral votes in places like Alaska and Idaho and Utah and Kansas and Nebraska. And many of his votes come from caucuses which have a relatively low turnout."
While the senator has made numerous attacks on Washington pundits in recent days for nearly ruling out that she can win her party's nomination, she said she relies on the assessment of Democratic voters of who can win. "The fact is we're going to have to include Michigan and Florida," she said. "We cannot claim that we have the nominee based on 48 states -- particularly when two states are so important for us to win in the fall."
While she has toned down her attacks in past weeks against Obama, she has revived subtle criticism of her opponent's popular oratory and presence over the weekend without mentioning him by name. "I believe in solutions, not speeches. In results, not rhetoric," said Clinton.
Clinton continued to present her vision of America's economic future to Kentuckians in order to provide contrast with her opponents, both Democrat and Republican. "I am the only candidate left with a universal healthcare plan," said Clinton, who remarked that she could work "both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue" to put that and other proposals into place, as well as eliminating the deficit.
The senator has been in Kentucky since Saturday and will campaign here through tomorrow's primary. "We have a very close contest - the votes, the delegates," Clinton said as she wrapped up her rally, saying tomorrow would not be the last word as to who goes on to challenge the Republican nominee.
"None of us is going to have the number of delegates they're going to need to get us to the nomination."