Sen. Hillary Clinton, holding a thin lead over Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination after Super Tuesday, downplayed her opponent’s support among Virginia political leaders and said the military and voters savvy about the federal government will give her an edge in the state’s primary next week.
In a news conference at her national headquarters in Arlington, Clinton touted a “deep support in a lot of different constituencies in Virginia.” The commonwealth, alongside Maryland and the District, will hold its Republican and Democratic primaries Tuesday.
The New York senator is hurt, however, by a much lighter bench of endorsements among the commonwealth’s political elite. Gov. Tim Kaine has campaigned hard for Obama, and earlier this week about half of the state Senate’s Democratic caucus announced their support for him, joining other mayors and legislators.
Clinton, addressing a question about Kaine’s support of Obama, pointed to the Illinois senator’s support from Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry that nevertheless didn’t score him a win in that state.
“As I recall, the governor and both senators in Massachusetts endorsed my opponent,” she said. “I think we’ll do fine.”
Obama’s spokesman Kevin Griffis responded that support from the state’s leading officials sends a signal to “independent and moderate Republicans who are willing to vote for Democrats with the right message in Virginia.”
Clinton, too, suggested Northern Virginia’s population of federal workers and its heavily military and ex-military population would break her way next week.
“I think I have a very strong base of support among a lot of the electorate who understands how the federal government works, who are involved with or were with the military … and the work that I’ve done on behalf of the military and military families,” she said.
Clinton emerged from the about two dozen primaries across the country on Tuesday with a slight lead over Obama, without all delegates counted, while on the Republican side Arizona Sen. John McCain emerged the indisputable front-runner.
A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 500 likely voters conducted in January showed McCain leading Clinton and, to a lesser extent, Obama. Against Clinton, McCain led 49 percent to her 38 percent. He led Obama 45 percent to 43 percent.
