Clinton Backers Reluctant To Give Up On Their Candidate

CLINTON  ELECTIONS 

By Austin Jenkins

Olympia, WA  June 3, 2008 1:55 p.m.

Hillary Clinton supporters in the Northwest say they’re sticking by their candidate. But they’re also confronting the likelihood that Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee for president. Correspondent Austin Jenkins has this regional round-up.

Paul Berendt is the former chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. He’s also a Hillary Clinton delegate.

Berendt threw his support behind Clinton after his first choice -- John Edwards -- dropped out of the race for president. Berendt says he will stick with Clinton through the convention unless she formally releases her delegates.

And he has this message for his candidate.

Paul Berendt: “Keep your head held high, we’re proud of you. We support you immensely. And engage with Obama and talk to him in earnest about your issues and continue to fight for those issues.”

Issues, Berendt says, like the plight of working class Americans and universal healthcare. Berendt says Obama will have to reach out to Clinton supporters.

Paul Berendt: “What has to transpire now for the Obama campaign is that there’s a real acknowledgment about her issues and an embracement of many of those issues in order for us to get into this race as enthusiastically as we need to in order to win.”

In Idaho, Clinton delegate Kris Troxel also says she’ll watch Obama carefully to see how he engages Clinton supporters.

Troxel says she endorsed Clinton because of her qualifications -- not because of her gender. But she allows that the Clinton candidacy may pave the way for a woman president in the future.

Kris Troxel: “I take from this that it is much more likely in my lifetime that there will be a woman president, but she may not be the first one, but there will be a first one. You know this is not a crushing blow.”

It is a crushing blow to Oregon State Representative Sara Gelser.

Sara Gelser: “American women have waited for so long. Women have been the foundation of this country since its founding and haven’t yet had the opportunity to lead from the Oval office.”

For the record none of these Clinton backers is ready to call curtains on the campaign. But all three say it’s important to focus on winning the White House in November.

And they don’t think this protracted primary fight has hurt the Democratic Party.

Oregon has three uncommitted superdelegates.  Two have said they'll state their choice for president after Tuesday's voting is over in Montana and South Dakota. 

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