New York U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton’s big win in the West Virginia primary is giving her Indiana supporters hope that she’ll continue her campaign for president.
Sure, the glitz of television cameras is gone, and Larry King isn’t calling anymore, but Hammond, Indiana Mayor Tom McDermott’s support for Clinton isn’t waning one bit.
McDermott says with the senator’s lopsided victory in West Virginia over Illinois U.S. Senator Barack Obama, she can’t even think of dropping out of the race now.
McDERMOTT: Two out of every three votes went to Hillary Clinton. West Virginia is a key state in the Electoral College. That’s a state the Democrats count on and if Barack Obama only gets one in three votes that’s concerning. If the Democratic Party’s intention is to win in November, that’s concerning.
McDermott campaigned heavily for Clinton leading up to Indiana’s primary last week. But even as the campaign’s moved on from the Hoosier state, McDermott keeps in regular contact with the senator’s staff.
McDERMOTT: The focus has clearly shifted. The next place we’re going to focus on is Kentucky.
But he says, this contest could be done and over if Obama would simply win more states.
McDERMOTT: I think that we have to be really concerned right now because our candidate, the one that everyone presumes is going to win this thing keeps losing states in states the Democrats need to win.
But in a show of support for Obama, earlier today, Congressman Peter Visclosky, a Democrat from Merrillville, endorsed the Illinois senator. South Bend area Congressman Joe Donnelly did the same yesterday.
Both congressmen are also superdelegates, helping to increase Obama’s lead over Clinton in the superdelegate count.