Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton celebrated her rout of Senator Barack Obama in West Virginia on Tuesday but it was a bittersweet victory colored by her Democratic rival’s daunting lead in the nomination race.
While Clinton renewed her vow to stay in the race, she appeared subdued in her victory speech and pointedly avoided any jabs at Obama after months of hard-hitting political combat. Her more conciliatory tone hinted at an effort to heal wounds in the party and lay the ground for a possible exit as the White House prize appeared more and more out of reach.
“I will work my heart out for the nominee of the Democratic party to make sure we have a Democratic president,” Clinton said.
With only a handful of contests left and her Obama enjoying a formidable mathematical edge, Clinton painted herself as a plucky underdog and promised to stay in the fight.
“You know I never give up, and I’ll keep coming back and I’ll stand with you as long as you stand with me,” Clinton said to cheering supporters at a rally in Charleston.
Just as her presidential prospects looked shaky, Clinton seems to have hit her stride on the campaign trail, presenting her speeches with a confident ease instead of the stiff delivery that marked the outset of her effort. In the days leading up to the primary, the former first lady carried a feisty populist message up and down the poor, rural state.
Pacing and punching the air, she slammed tax cuts for the wealthy and accused US President George W. Bush of failing to protect consumers from high oil prices.
It was no coincidence that Clinton’s more relaxed manner came as the race’s outcome became clear, lifting the burdens of a tense duel, said Larry Sabato, professor of political science at the University of Virginia.
“Of course she’s enjoying it. She’s going to have a landslide in West Virginia, in Kentucky, and Puerto Rico,” he said, referring to upcoming contests after Tuesday’s vote. “The pressure’s off. She knows the race is over. It’s a perfect combination.”
Even as she looked forward to the final contests in the nomination battle, attention shifted to how and when Clinton might bow out of the race. Senior party leaders have mostly refrained from demanding her withdrawal, allowing her to leave on her terms.
US commentators speculate she could be gunning to be Obama’s vice-presidential running mate, or for an influential role in his administration should he defeat Republican Senator John McCain in November.
“She wants to have nearly half the delegates when she goes to the convention, which increases her influence with Obama,” Sabato said.
Her mettle meanwhile has won praise from both admirers and critics alike, with The New Republic writing of “a heroic aspect to Clinton’s resolve.”
Those who have followed her career say she has often been at her best in the face of disappointment.
“Perseverance and resilience ... are the strongest threads in the tapestry of her life, along with religion and family,” Clinton biographer Carl Bernstein has written.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was