Clinton's Still in, but Obama Envisions End

May 8, 2008— -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., buzzed into an airplane hangar in Sioux Falls, S.D., this afternoon, where even die-hard supporters such as Bev Austin worried Clinton may no longer have a chance.

"I will say a big, fat maybe," Austin said, "A big, fat maybe. I wish."

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., needs to win a mere 36 percent of the total remaining delegates in six remaining primaries to become the Democratic nominee.

Clinton needs to win 70 percent. But, apparently, she is convinced that might happen, which is why she visited three of the six primary locations today.

Earlier In Charleston, W.Va., Clinton seemed to be talking less to voters and more to superdelegates.

"The delegate math may be complicated, but the electoral math is easy," she said. "We need 270 electoral votes to win in November. That's what we have to have. And [presumptive Republican nominee] Sen. [John] McCain is the front-runner, has served on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is a formidable opponent."

She tied the question of electability to who wins the Democratic primary in West Virginia Tuesday, where she is favored handily.

"I think West Virginia is a test," Clinton said. "It's a test for me. It's a test for Sen. Obama. Because for too long we have let places like West Virginia slip out of the Democratic column. It is a fact that no president, Democratic president, has ever won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia."

Former President Bill Clinton told a crowd at a City Hall gym in Phillippi, W.Va., today not to believe the reports of his wife's demise, adding that issues involving unsanctioned primaries in Michigan and Florida would be "resolved."

"Don't believe all this stuff you read in the press," the former president said. "She can still win this thing if you vote for her big enough."

On the Hill today, Obama also acknowledged to reporters that Clinton "is very likely to win West Virginia and Kentucky. Those are two states where she's got insurmountable leads."