Barack Obama’s decisive victory in North Carolina and his narrow loss in Indiana on Tuesday have left him just 185 delegates shy of the Democratic nomination, with Hillary Clinton needing a miracle to overtake him even though she will most likely win in West Virginia next week.
Clinton is trailing by about 172 pledged delegates, according to the Obama campaign,and more than 700,000 in the popular vote tally.
There is no practical scenario under which she could beat Obama in either of those categories without some kind of major scandal or setback in his campaign.
She is also losing her small superdelegate lead. Obama gained four new superdelegates Wednesday, including one defection from the Clinton camp.
Obama also won the endorsement of George McGovern, a former South Dakota senator and presidential candidate, who said in an MSNBC interview that Clinton should quit the race because “the mathematics is against her at this point.”
“The road for her has gotten tougher,” said Democratic strategist Carter Eschew, who was Al Gore’s chief strategist in his 2000 presidential campaign but is unaligned this year. “She needed to be substantially strengthened last night in Indiana and North Carolina and I don’t thing she was. In fact, I think her case got weaker.”
Clinton said Wednesday she has no plans to quit. Instead, she made a last-minute change in her schedule, adding an event in Shepherdstown, W.Va.
“I’m staying in this race until there is a nominee,” she told reporters after a campaign rally there.
Robert Rupp, a political science professor at West Virginia’s Wesleyan College, said Clinton’s decision to beef up her presence in the state indicates she may be relying on a big win there next week in hopes of convincing the remaining 261 superdelegates to side with her.
“Usually when they do that, it’s because they are in trouble,” Rupp said. In Clinton’s case, he added, “She wanted to drive up the margin.”
Clinton is leading by double digits in West Virginia, Rupp said, but Obama’s enhanced momentum and apparent grip on the nomination could induce her supporters to stay home.
Clinton aides disclosed that she has loaned her campaign an additional $6.4 million of her own joint assets with husband Bill Clinton. She made a loan of $5 million earlier in the
race.
The Clinton camp also said she had picked up one new superdelegate.
Obama’s campaign, meanwhile, is getting ready to do battle against presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters that the candidatehas begun voter registration drives in all 50 states in order to increase the number of Democrats who can vote in November.
“We can see the finish line here,” Plouffe said.
