IN THE HEADLINES Clinton poised for West Virginia win that offers little hope of jarring Obama's reach for nomination ... More than $20 million in debt, Clinton could look to Obama, Senate campaign to help pay it off ... Barack Obama leads the field in unsolicited campaign songs; a new form of campaigning ___ Clinton poised for W.Va. win; Obama looks ahead CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) _ The Democratic presidential race runs on two tracks now, one snaking through the West Virginia primary Tuesday and the other mapped out by Barack Obama through battleground states in the fall. Hillary Rodham Clinton had every reason to expect a big victory over Obama in West Virginia yet scant hope it could turn around her presidential bid. She campaigned, though, like it mattered, even as Obama did little more than a drop-by in a state that seemed poised to shun him. Interest is keen in the primary, judging by a record turnout of more than 70,000 people who cast ballots in person before Tuesday in the state's liberal early voting system. The Illinois senator may be only a few weeks from clinching the Democratic nomination, no matter what happens in West Virginia or in another Clinton stronghold, Kentucky, a week later. In his tone, words and itinerary, Obama is focused on Republican John McCain almost to the exclusion of his fading Democratic rival. He planned to spend primary night in Missouri, a bellwether in the fall general campaign. Clinton was not going quietly. Not yet. The New York senator implored West Virginians in four stops Monday to send her forward with a convincing win. "This may be the most important vote you've ever cast," she told a crowd in Fairmont. "Let's have a huge vote in West Virginia." And she invoked history to counter the inexorable math of the delegate count that's falling into place for her opponent. "I keep telling people, no Democrat has won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia," she said at Tudor's Biscuit World in Charleston. Obama made only one appearance in the state, talking up his love of country and conviction that veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars deserve better care from their government when they come home. ___ Clinton status puts focus on her $20 million debt WASHINGTON (AP) _ Should she lose or abandon her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton will have to deal with her campaign's more than $20 million debt _ a step that could test her relationship with Barack Obama and raise new issues in campaign finance law. Clinton owed $10 million at the end of March, has made loans to her campaign totaling of $11.4 million thus far and will more than likely end the primary season significantly in the red. Among her options is transferring that debt to her Senate campaign committee and paying it off with contributions to her 2012 re-election effort. But, for the short term, many Democrats believe the answer lies with Obama and his vast network of contributors. "That is a normal thing when a candidate finishes a race and loses, the winning candidate would try to help if there's some debt that's been incurred," said Tad Devine, a Democratic consultant who has worked in several presidential campaigns but is unaligned this year. By law, Obama cannot write a massive check from his flush campaign account to hers. But Obama donors, large and small, might be willing to donate to Clinton in the name of party unity. Clinton campaign officials say they have not contemplated what she will do with the debt. ___ Obama leads field in unsolicited campaign songs NEW YORK (AP) _ Barack Obama is closing in on the Democratic nomination for president, but he clinched the race for the best campaign soundtrack long ago _ no superdelegates needed. John McCain and Hillary Clinton also have plenty of musical support in the first presidential election of the YouTube era. But from will.i.am's star-studded viral hit "Yes We Can" to amateur odes folk to Spanish-language tunes and even a Jamaican reggae tribute, Obama is the leader in what observers are calling a new form of political campaigning. Continued... |