CLINTON GOES ALL-IN ON KENTUCKY PRIMARY, CBS News, May 16
BOWLING GREEN, KY -- After a string of losses but with the Democratic nomination in sight, Hillary Clinton is fighting hard for a win in Kentucky to boost her lead in the delegate count.
On Tuesday, I would be honored to have your support in this primary," she said in a backyard in northern Kentucky's Fort Mitchell, where she rallied her supporters on Sunday afternoon. "I would be deeply, deeply honored."
The following morning in Paducah County, on the state's western edge, Clinton lingered, talking to diners at Lone Oak Little Castle, a local institution where many breakfast patrons remembered fondly her and Bill Clinton's past visits to the state. "That was the most wonderful experience," Clinton said, referring to her husband's first presidential run, "and then you remember, we came to Paducah the night before the '92 election...I'm happy to be back."
Word spread that Clinton would be visiting the restaurant and, by the time she arrived, a crowd had formed.
I'll tell you this," she said, "I'm not going to give up on Kentucky in November!"
Monday marks Clinton's fourth day on the ground here and, all told, she will have made more than a dozen campaign stops across the state before the primary on Tuesday. Bill Clinton made four stops in the state last Thursday and, in the run up to election night, other elected officials including Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn have campaigned here on Clinton's behalf.
And for the last six days, Kentuckians in Lexington and Louisville have likely seen and heard ads on TV and the radio that encourage them to get out and vote. The effort stands in contrast to the campaign's investment in Oregon, which also holds its primary on Tuesday. Clinton has not campaigned in the state herself, though her husband has stumped for her, and the campaign is not running TV or radio ads there. It's because her aides see an opening in Kentucky that may be closed in Oregon, where Bernie Sanders has drawn thousands to hear his progressive message since early in his campaign. One of his rallies in Portland back in August brought out 28,000 people, which is still one of Sanders' -- or any candidate's -- largest crowds to date.
Although Clinton's campaign isn't expecting a landslide victory in Kentucky, aides are looking for a closer result than in neighboring West Virginia, where Sanders beat Clinton handily last week. A majority of primary voters, according to exit polls, said that the most important issue facing the country was the economy and, of the 61 percent of voters who said they were "very worried" about the economy's direction, 52 percent voted for Sanders. At a campaign event at a union training facility in Louisville on Sunday, Clinton focused specifically on coal and auto jobs.
..The decision to prioritize Kentucky over Oregon, where ballots are mailed in, also frees up resources for Clinton to invest elsewhere like in California, where the campaign opened four new field offices over the weekend, or in states expected to become battlegrounds in the general election. The math backs up the strategy: Clinton now has 94 percent of the delegates required to clinch the nomination. According to a CBS News analysis, Clinton only needs to win 13 percent of delegates in the remaining primaries. con't.
More, http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hillary-clinton-goes-all-in-on-kentucky-primary/ar-BBt7jbY?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=spartandhp
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