West Virginia to Hold Democratic Primary Tomorrow
BLITZER: For a short time Hillary Clinton is reliving what it feels like to be the front-runner. She's the odds on favorite in tomorrow's West Virginia primary. But the overall odds just got even better for Barack Obama. Obama now has an overall lead in the delegates with 1,869 to Clinton's 1,697. That includes Obama's new edge in the superdelegates. He leads by four now in that category. Let's go live to CNN's Sean Callebs, he is watching this story for us in West Virginia. This is your hometown, your home base over there in West Virginia, Sean. What's going on?</s>SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been great to be back here. It's been fascinating to watch the voters. They are as excited as we have seen voters across the country. Hillary Clinton's campaigning in this eleventh hour down to the wire. Tomorrow morning at 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time the polls open up and certainly Senator Clinton is hoping for a big turnout here tomorrow. She's hoping for a huge win in West Virginia to propel her campaign. But the question everybody has been asking today, sit going to be enough to keep her campaign going?</s>SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NY: First I'm going to Clearfork. Then I'm going to Logan ...</s>CALLEBS (voice-over): Hillary Clinton is working in West Virginia to up the stakes. Even as Barack Obama moved past her in the all important superdelegate count. Senator Clinton hopes for a huge turnout Tuesday. Enough that she could put a dent in Obama's lead in the popular vote and continue her push for the White House.</s>CLINTON: You know, even when times are tough and it looks like the deck is stacked against you, Americans are still resilient. And, boy, West Virginians are sure resilient.</s>CALLEBS: Barack Obama did little campaigning in West Virginia. The head of the state Democratic Party here expects that Obama will lose here by at least 30 percentage points. But with momentum and growing talk he'll be the eventual nominee it was easy for him to be gracious.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am extraordinarily honored that some of you will support me. I understand that many more here in West Virginia will probably support Senator Clinton.</s>CALLEBS: West Virginia with its primaries so late in the political season is relishing its time in the spotlight. This is the first time in nearly half a century its getting so much attention. Since West Virginia helped a Massachusetts senator take the Oval Office back in 1960.</s>CLINTON: West Virginia has a record of picking president. West Virginia made it possible for President Kennedy to become the president of the united states. West Virginia in the general election votes for the winner.</s>CALLEBS (on camera): And we already have a gauge of just how excited people in West Virginia are about this election. A record 76,000 have cast their ballots early. If you break down the registration in this state, Democrats outnumber registered Republican by about a two to one margin. However, the McCain campaign is not conceding anything. He simply looks back to 2000 and 2004 when, Wolf, George Bush carried the state.</s>BLITZER: Good point. What about the state itself? How has it changed over the past 10 years?</s>CALLEBS: You know, it really has changed a lot. If you look at the makeup of the state, when I was growing up here, it was such a labor intensive state. Unions were really king. There was the UMW, steel workers' union, the number of railroads through the throughout the state. They've lost a lot of their clout, their muscle over the years. Really the economy is trying to change. More health care, more education, more high-tech. And so it's becoming a little more conservative. It used to be a very, very liberal voting state. Look what happened in 2000 and 2004. Before that even back in the Reagan a era, that's where we saw the state begin to change.</s>BLITZER: Sean Callebs, thanks very much. Sean's watching this in West Virginia. West Virginia is Clinton country. That's obvious. Largely white blue collar and low income. It fits her strengths. But some Democrats worry that tomorrow's primary will highlight Barack Obama's weaknesses going forward. Let's go live to our chief national correspondent John King. He's looking at this story for us. John, will a poor showing by Barack Obama tomorrow in West Virginia potentially come back to haunt him?</s>JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That certainly is one of the concerns of democrats, Wolf, that if Senator Clinton makes such a strong push in West Virginia she'll get a victory but with most assuming Obama will be the nominee will it show once again his weaknesses especially with white working glass and white rural voters. Let's look at the neighborhood first as you zoom in West Virginia. If you look around the neighborhood, yes, Barack Obama did do well over here in Virginia and Maryland. But what are the differences between West Virginia and Maryland and Virginia itself? Let's pull out to West Virginia and take a look at it. One of the reason he is did so well in the neighbors states they have large African American populations. West Virginia, Wolf, is demographically is built for Senator Clinton it's 95 percent white. Not a large African American base. Not even a modest African American base for Senator Obama to make a run in. It's also one of the oldest states in the country. And as we all know Clinton has done very well with voters especially over the age of 60 and over the age 65. It is one of the lower education states. More people only have a high school diploma in Virginia (ph). It's about 48th when it comes to those with high school diplomas. It is built demographically for Senator Clinton. She wants a strong showing to make a point. And this is her point. I'm going to draw you a line along the coast out here, the border with Ohio. Along the Ohio River, Wheeling, Parkersburg, down here to Huntington and around this way. These are the major population centers along with Charleston and Morgantown. She wants to take us back in time and say look. This is how George W. Bush won West Virginia back in 2004 and 2000. Had Al Gore won this state like Democrats had throughout the earlier 20, 40, 50 years, Al Gore would have been president. What Senator Clinton wants to say is I can get these white working class voters here, I can get the rural voters here and I'm a stronger Democratic nominee. As you pointed out, many Democrats believe Obama is on a path to the nomination and what might happen here is a big Clinton win that gets her time in the race, perhaps a little more fund raising but most of all raises questions about why is Barack Obama running so weak among these voters and what can he do about it?</s>BLITZER: And there's a history about West Virginia. Bill Clinton carried the state twice. Al gore didn't have that much luck in 2000. George W. Bush won West Virginia both of his contests. There's a history that we have to appreciate going forward this year.</s>KING: Exactly right. It is one of the states, look at Iowa, a state that President Bush has carried that was a democratic state. West Virginia is one of the 10 states Michael Dukakis won back in 1988 and it was a Republican landslide. It has a deep Democratic history but also one of the states, New Hampshire is another one, one of these states with rural white populations that more and more over the past decade have trended toward the republicans and certainly changed the Electoral College map. We were talking earlier about the competition for states. This once reliably a Democratic state is now counted as red or at least leaning red heading into November. That's one of the changing demographics of American politics in part of the Republican Party's success with white working class and white rural and religious voters. It's a problem for the Democrats and Senator Clinton is arguing every day, Wolf, it's a problem for Barack Obama.</s>BLITZER: All right, John. Thanks. Stand by. We're going to see you back here with that wall coming up in the next hour. Tomorrow night we'll bring you all the election results from the West Virginia. From the CNN Election Center, coverage begins right here in THE SITUATION ROOM at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. You're going to want to stay with CNN for that. A bizarre and deadly trend in Japan. Dozens of suicides committed in a very unusual way. Using a common household product. The story. Plus what officials are doing about it. That's coming up. And a tiny Oklahoma town crushed by a monster storm. You'll see firsthand as a family goes back to what's left of their home. Stay with us. And wildfires and a state of emergency right now in Florida. An update on our breaking news when we return.