Clinton’s 11th-hour push

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) rallied her Capitol Hill supporters on Wednesday night, telling them to bring an uncommitted friend and seeking to capitalize on her 41-percentage points victory in the West Virginia primary.

But as she was scheduled to gather with her supporters, rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) grabbed another one — former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) endorsed him at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich.

{mosads}Despite this blow, which handed Obama the support of a candidate whose appeal was largely to blue-collar workers, Clinton used the meeting at the Sewell-Belmont House to drive home the point that she is more competitive with precisely that category of voter, and in districts where Democrats will face their toughest races this fall.

Clinton’s senior campaign adviser, Harold Ickes, met her congressional whip team Wednesday morning to make clear that she intends to stay in the race until June 3, the date of the last primary, despite recent speculation that she might drop her bid after Oregon and Kentucky hold primaries on May 20.

After Clinton lost North Carolina by 14 points and barely won Indiana a week ago, falling further behind in the race for delegates, supporters such as Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) said she should consider quitting.

Clinton fueled speculation that she might halt her campaign by sending a thank-you video to supporters before Tuesday’s primary. In it, she mentioned the next week’s contests but not primaries scheduled for June in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota.

“He made it very clear she’s in it through June 3,” said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), a Clinton supporter, referring to Ickes.  

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), another backer who was there, said Clinton’s whips were instructed to do everything they could to keep uncommitted superdelegates from making endorsements, despite pronouncements by many analysts that Obama has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton also scheduled one-on-one meetings Wednesday with undeclared superdelegates such as Reps. John Tierney (D-Mass.) and Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.), following similar meetings with Reps. John Spratt (D-S.C.) and Zack Space (D-Ohio) last week.

Clinton and her allies now argue that she is more popular than Obama in states and districts expected to be the most important battlegrounds before November.

“We’re going to press our case with superdelegates … that based on the results of the primary so far, Sen. Clinton would be our best nominee against [Sen.] John McCain [R-Ariz.],” said Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson in a conference call with reporters.

Campaign officials highlighted to neutral superdelegates in Congress that Clinton has won many more red-to-blue districts than Obama. These are former Republican districts that Democrats captured in 2006.

“She is best positioned to win swing states against John McCain,” said Wolfson. “Sen. Clinton is our best nominee. People waking up today are looking at results in West Virginia and saying, ‘Let’s slow this thing down.’ ”

{mospagebreak}Obama’s campaign has circulated talking points rebutting Clinton’s arguments.

“Barack Obama has won key swing states that Democrats need to win in November like Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Virginia — many by very wide margins,” stated an Obama campaign memorandum obtained by The Hill. “In fact, he won neighboring Virginia by 29 points.”

Obama allies have also argued that he is more popular than Clinton among independent voters.

{mosads}“Nationally, Obama is running stronger among independent voters than any winning presidential candidate since 1988 — and he’s doing better than Sen. Clinton among these voters as well in general election polling,” stated the memo.

Clinton has performed better in a swath of House districts that voted for President Bush. She is pressing that record with superdelegates from conservative districts, especially freshman Democrats facing tough races.

Clinton has circulated a PowerPoint presentation among lawmakers titled “Winning in the Tough Districts.” It highlights that she won 16 of 20 districts that voted for Bush and are now represented by first-term Democrats.

Many Democratic lawmakers believe winning in these districts will be necessary to protect or expand their majority in Congress.

Rep. Marion Berry (D-Ark.), who is helping Clinton recruit support in the House, said her record in Republican-inclined districts should attract vulnerable freshmen and conservative Democrats in the Blue Dog Coalition.

“She’s done well in rural districts, and that makes you think these Blue Dogs would be a natural fit,” said Berry, who represents a district Bush won in 2004.

Clinton won the districts represented by freshman Democrats Space, Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), Jerry McNerney (Calif.), Tim Mahoney (Fla.) and Nick Lampson (Texas), who are all uncommitted superdelegates.

Several freshman superdelegates from Republican-leaning districts recently declared their support for Clinton: Reps. Chris Carney (D-Pa.), Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) and Ciro Rodriguez (D-Texas).

Obama has picked up more superdelegates than Clinton in recent days. A tally kept by The Hill shows that he has received endorsements from 106 members of Congress to Clinton’s 100.

But Clinton has forestalled a superdelegate stampede to Obama.