By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted May 21, 2008 – Sen. Hillary Clinton’s has won her second primary in as many weeks,  but her lopsided victory in the Kentucky primary still left the New York senator trailing Obama in pledged delegates, and no chance of catching up.

Clinton captured 65 percent of the vote in Kentucky to Obama’s 30 percent.  But even with Clinton’s  landslide, Obama gained at least 14 delegates in the state.  According to The Associated Press Obama now has 1,931 out of the 2,026, Clinton has 1,755.  Now Obama needs fewer than 100 super-delegates to seal the deal for the nomination.    

In an apparent attempt to convince the super-delegates that she is still the Democratic Party’s best hope of defeating Sen. John McCain in November, Clinton told a crowd gathered at Marriott Hotel ballroom, “Tonight we’ve achieved an important victory. It is not just Kentucky bluegrass that is music to my ears. It is the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence even in the face of some pretty tough odds.”

Sticking to her guns to stay in the race, Clinton told the cheering crowd, “Some have said your votes didn’t matter, that this campaign was over, that allowing everyone to vote and every vote to count would somehow be a mistake. But that didn’t stop you. You’ve never given up on me because you know I’ll never give up on you.”

But, once again overshadowing a hefty Clinton win with a well-timed media blitz of his own, Obama, who was expecting a decent-sized win in Oregon, headed to Iowa.  He made sure the cameras were rolling in Iowa, which delivered him his first primary victory, as he stood before an ocean of supporters in Des Moines (with the imagery of the Capitol glowing in the background) to thank Iowans for putting him over the top in elected delegates. 

“You know, 15 months ago, in the depths of winter, it was in this great state where we took the first steps of an unlikely journey to change America. The skeptics predicted we wouldn’t get very far,” he told the crowd. “The cynics dismissed us as a lot of hype and a little too much hope. And by the fall, the pundits in Washington had all but counted us out.  But the people of Iowa had a different idea.”

Obama is the projected winner in Oregon, a state that’s even Whiter than Kentucky, but the final results won’t be tallied until all the mailed ballots are counted. Both Clinton and Obama took time Tuesday night to salute their colleague and friend, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

Clinton told those gathered in Louisville, “Senator Ted Kennedy is one of the greatest progressive leaders in our party’s history, and one of the most effective senators in our country’s history. He’s my friend, and he’s my inspiration.”

Obama called Kennedy “a spirit of change, and hope, and possibility,” adding, “as he takes on this fight, let us lift his spirits tonight by letting Ted Kennedy know that we are thinking of him, that we are praying for him, that we are standing with him and Vicky, and that we will be fighting with him every step of the way.”

Kennedy, 76, is a longtime friend of the former first lady and President Clinton; he has endorsed the junior senator from Illinois. 

With both candidates moving on to the remaining contest in Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico, neither will be in those states today; both will be campaigning in Florida instead.    
 

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