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JOSHUA LYNSEN
Friday, May 16, 2008
Emboldened
by
her
West
Virginia
victory,
Sen.
Hillary
Clinton’s
supporters
are
encouraging
her
to
stay
in
the
presidential
race.
“I
do
believe
she
should
stay
in,”
said
Mirian
Saez,
a
lesbian
and
Democratic
superdelegate.
“She
represents
half
of
the
voting
Democrats
in
this
nation
and
she
owes
it
to
us
to
stay
in
and
be
strong
and
bring
it
home
for
us.”
But
even
after
her
41-point
win
Tuesday,
Clinton
still
trails
Sen.
Barack
Obama.
According
to
CNN
tallies,
Obama
had
1,600
pledged
delegates
Wednesday
to
Clinton’s
1,444.
Including
superdelegates,
Obama
had
1,883
delegates
to
Clinton’s
1,717.
Democratic
Party
rules
require
a
candidate
to
secure
2,025
delegates
to
win
the
nomination
outright.
About
190
pledged
delegates
remain
to
be
won
and
240
superdelegates
are
uncommitted.
Ken
Sherrill,
a
City
University
of
New
York
political
science
professor
who
is
gay,
said
the
few
delegates
Clinton
won
Tuesday
failed
to
“give
her
as
much
of
a
kick
as
she
needed”
to
catch
Obama.
“That’s
nickel
and
dime,”
he
said.
“That
doesn’t
make
a
dent
in
his
lead.”
Some
of
Clinton’s
supporters
agreed
the
numbers
position
Obama
as
the
contest’s
frontrunner.
“I
think
if
you
took
a
snapshot,
you’d
have
to
say
he’s
ahead,”
said
Jeff
Soref,
a
longtime
gay
Democratic
activist.
They
said
the
marathon
is
not
finished,
though,
until
the
final
primary
ballots
are
cast
June
3
in
Montana
and
South
Dakota.
“Listen,
why
should
we
stop
now?”
Saez
said.
“Why
shouldn’t
every
state
get
a
say
in
this?”
Sherrill
said
Democrats
must
be
careful,
though,
to
avoid
artificially
prolonging
the
process
and
risk
angering
the
voters
they’ll
need
in
November.
“It’s
cause
for
concern
in
that
you
don’t
want
to
reach
the
Denver
convention
with
the
two
sides
at
each
other’s
throats,”
he
said.
“Scheduling
the
convention
so
late
and
starting
the
primaries
so
early,
there’s
a
recipe
for
disaster
in
that
regard,
and
it
makes
it
harder
to
heal
the
wounds
of
the
primary.”
Exit
polls
from
recent
primary
states
Indiana
and
North
Carolina
showed
about
33
percent
of
Clinton
supporters
there
would
vote
for
presumptive
Republican
nominee
Sen.
John
McCain
if
Obama
takes
the
Democratic
nomination.
But
Peter
Rosenstein,
a
Washington
political
activist
who
is
on
Clinton’s
gay
steering
committee,
said
such
sentiments
are
likely
to
change.
“I
think
all
these
polls
will
change
once
we
have
the
nominee,”
he
said.
“I
really
believe
that
both
supporters
of
Barack
Obama
and
Hillary
Clinton
will
take
a
look
at
John
McCain
and
realize
that
John
McCain
represents
so
many
of
the
things
that
they
actually
want
changed.”
Soref
also
noted
that
neither
Clinton
nor
Obama
has
indicated
they’re
worried
about
a
party
rift.
“Obama
himself
doesn’t
seem
to
be
concerned
about
that,”
he
said.
“So
I
think
if
he’s
not
concerned
about
it
and
her
campaign
isn’t
concerned
about
it,
then
I
think
we
have
to
let
the
process
play
out.”
Soref,
who’s
been
active
in
politics
for
“close
to
50
years,”
said
he
doesn’t
expect
the
ongoing
contest
will
devolve
into
the
divided
Democratic
contests
of
1968
or
1972,
when
fights
lasted
to
the
convention
and
yielded
candidates
who
lost
to
their
Republican
opponents.
“I
don’t
think
it’s
anywhere
near
that
level
of
anger
or
bitterness
or
personal
animosity,”
he
said.
“I
think
this
is
well
within
the
norm
and
I
have
no
concerns
about
unity.”
Saez
agreed.
She
said
Democrats
involved
in
the
primary
process
are
enthusiastic
about
their
candidate
of
choice,
but
ultimately
will
coalesce
around
the
party’s
nominee.
“Right
now,
we’re
just
passionate
about
our
candidate
and
it’s
hard
to
imagine
that
either
one
wouldn’t
be
there,”
she
said.
“But
we’ll
get
through
that.
We
are
a
party
that
can
unite.
And
when
the
time
is
right,
that
will
happen.
And
it
will
happen
in
a
way
that’s
respectful
of
both
sides.”
And
that
time,
Rosenstein
said
this
week,
could
be
fast
approaching.
“I
think
Hillary
Clinton
will
basically
move
on
through
June
3,
at
which
point
if
Barack
Obama
has
enough
delegates
to
be
the
nominee
of
the
party,
Hillary
Clinton
will
be
very
gracious,
and
will
be
an
active
and
wholehearted
supporter
of
Barack
Obama,”
he
said.
“And
should
something
change
between
now
and
then,
and
should
Hillary
be
the
nominee,
Obama
has
said
the
same
about
her.”
Joshua
Lynsen
can
be
reached
at
jlynsen@washblade.com.
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