Clinton awaits W.Va. victory

She will still remain far behind Obama with a win.

McClatchy Newspapers

LOGAN, W.Va. — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama made their closing arguments in West Virginia on Monday on the eve of the state’s Democratic presidential primary, which Clinton is expected to win handily.

Stumping all day in the state, Clinton pressed her case on why she’s best suited to be the party’s nominee, despite trailing Obama in pledged delegates, states won, the popular vote and party superdelegate commitments, and while running a campaign that’s millions of dollars in debt.

“The goal is to nominate someone who can beat John McCain in November,” Clinton told a crowd in a packed middle-school gymnasium. “I wouldn’t be in this race, I wouldn’t be going up and down West Virginia ... I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t believe I could be the best president for West Virginia and America.”

Obama, meanwhile, did a drive-by stop in the state, delivering a speech honoring veterans in Charleston that was aimed more toward the general election and a match against presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain than today’s contest against Clinton.

“I’m honored that some of you will support me, and I understand that many more in West Virginia will probably support Senator Clinton,” Obama said in prepared remarks to a small crowd in Charleston’s convention center. “But when it’s over, what will unify us as Democrats — what unifies as Americans — is an unyielding commitment to the men and women who’ve served this nation and an unshakable fidelity to the ideals for which they’ve risked their lives.”

Obama’s comments reflect the reality on the ground in the Mountaineer State — that he’s poised to lose here, big time. A poll released Monday by Boston’s Suffolk University showed Clinton with a commanding 36-point lead over Obama — 60 percent to 24 percent.

The poll had some ominous numbers for Obama: About four in 10 people said they viewed him unfavorably, while the same number viewed him favorably.

Four in 10 said they’d vote for the Democratic nominee in November’s election if their choice isn’t the candidate, with fully a quarter saying they’d support McCain.

Clinton campaign officials say that her expected victory here today will underscore her point to the Democratic Party establishment and superdelegates that she’s the stronger candidate in certain crucial swing states and constituencies — especially working-class whites — that often prove critical to Democrats’ chances in November.

But her argument may be moot. Even with a victory, she’ll still remain far behind Obama in pledged delegates and popular votes, and few superdelegates seem to be rallying to her.

Obama didn’t dwell on his impending West Virginia defeat. He jetted off to Lexington after his Charleston speech to campaign for next week’s Kentucky presidential primary.