• Senator Clinton wins the West Virginia Primary by a huge margin, but makes little dent in Senator Obama’s delegate count; Obama releases plan to help redress grievances of American manufacturing sector
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  • Senator Hilary Clinton routed Senator Barack Obama in the West Virginia Primary, reaffirming her strong following among white working-class older voters. She vowed to continue the fight into Kentucky and the Oregan primaries scheduled for May 20. In a surprise, she also won the majority of votes among younger population in West Virginia.

    In the aftermath of her win, questions were raised about Sen. Obama’s ability to stand up to Sen. McCain in the national elections as he would need to draw support from the key swing states such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, all which he has lost to Clinton. Clinton on her part asserted that no contender had been able to secure the presidency without winning the swing states. Sen. Clinton however still lags far behind Obama in the delegates count. Reports indicated that she was unlikely to be able to catch up in the later part of the campaign to secure the democratic nomination1.

    Sen. Obama on his part released a plan to redress the grievances of the American manufacturing sector. Among other measures, he called for federal government partnership with the private sector to spur innovation, greater investments to improve the skills of the American workers, the need to enhance high-productivity manufacturing capacity, and to stand up against competition from countries like China2.

    On the Republican side, Sen. McCain unveiled his plan to address the challenges posed by global warming while addressing a gathering in Portland, Oregon on May 123. His proposals included a cap and trade system to change the dynamics of the energy economy. Automakers, coal companies, power plants, and every other enterprise would be encouraged to reduce their respective carbon emissions and can then sell the extra limits for cash, which it is hoped would act as an incentive to reduce carbon emissions.

    Speaking in Ohio on May 15, McCain also noted that most of the US troops could return from Iraq by January 2013, by which time he held the country would be a functioning democracy. He also added that by 2013, Osama bin Laden would have been either dead or captured, and that the threat from the Taliban would have been “greatly reduced4.”

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