Hillary Clinton may be down in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but she’s not out.
Not by a long shot.
Clinton won the Pennsylvania primary April 22, beating Illinois Sen. Barack Obama by a decisive 10 percent margin. The win breathed new life into her campaign, which political pundits predicted would end with a defeat or a slim victory.
“You know, some people counted me out and said to drop out,” Clinton told the Associated Press after winning the primary. “But the American people don’t quit and they deserve a president who doesn’t quit either.”
New York’s junior senator has the backing of UUP’s statewide and national affiliates, NYSUT and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). A busload of AFT and NYSUT members traveled to Pennsylvania just days before the primary to help the Clinton camp get the vote out for the all-important primary.
At NYSUT’s annual Representative Assembly in April, Clinton called delegates from Philadelphia, thanking them for all their hard work and support.
“I’m in this race for you and all of our children,” she said. “I know many in New York are on the road, on the phones and e-mailing on my behalf. There are a lot of reports about friends coming across the border (to help). It is so appreciated.”
With her win in Pennsylvania, Clinton picked up a majority of the Keystone State’s 158 delegates, leaving her trailing Obama by more than 135 delegates. It takes 2,025 delegates to sew up the Democratic nomination and take on Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) in the November election. Clinton is also behind Obama in the popular vote.
Even with nine primaries left, many national political insiders and Obama himself believe the race will be decided by Democratic superdelegates at the party’s convention in August. Superdelegates are party or elected Democratic officials who can vote at the national election and are not compelled to commit to backing a particular candidate before the event.
The onus will be on Clinton to persuade a majority of the party’s 311 superdelegates that she is more electable and has a better chance to win the presidency than Obama, according to reports by the Associated Press and CNN.
Clinton and Obama hit the campaign trail hard as The Voice went to press, vying for delegates in Guam (May 3), Indiana and North Carolina (May 6), West Virginia (May 13), and Kentucky and Oregon (May 20). Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico will stage their primaries during the first week of June.
— Michael Lisi