By Tom Grace
Cooperstown News Bureau
May 14, 2008 04:00 am Keep running, Hillary, but stay positive. That's the message from local delegates and delegate candidates to the 2008 Democratic national convention. ``I think the race is very close and should not be over until everyone has had a chance to vote,'' Ashok Malhotra of Oneonta said Monday. ``The party has two fabulous candidates, and one of them will become president,'' said the philosophy professor at the State University College at Oneonta, a delegate pledged to Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY. Malhotra, who won a convention seat in February, believes his party's ideal ticket this fall will include both Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic front-runner. ``Together, they would be very strong and they could move this country in the right direction _ away from war and toward a new prosperity.'' But in the closing weeks of the nominating contest, Clinton and Obama should strive not to attack each other, he cautioned. ``They should remember we have to come together to win this election.'' Constance Lewis, an Obama delegate, offered similar advice. ``It looks like Obama will be the nominee, but I don't think Hillary has to get out of the race,'' said Lewis, a homemaker who lives in Cooperstown. The former first lady has shown she is a trouper, able to come back repeatedly, Lewis noted. ``But I think it's too late for negative campaigning.'' If Obama and Clinton were to disparage each other in the weeks leading up to the late summer convention, their words might haunt the party's nominee in the fall, Lewis said. The Associated Press reported, after polls closed in Tuesday night's West Virginia primary, that Obama had 1,875 delegates to Clinton's 1,712, with 2,025 needed to win the nomination. In the week since Obama won the North Carolina primary, close to 30 superdelegates have announced their support for him. But Clinton won a lopsided victory in West Virginia on Tuesday night, where 28 delegates were at stake. She is heavily favored to win in Kentucky, which votes next week along with Obama-leaning Oregon. And while some pundits have spoken openly about Clinton conceding, the candidate is still campaigning hard and has believers. ``I think she can win, and I know she's the best candidate in the race,'' said former Mayor Kim Muller of Oneonta, who ran a strong race to be a Clinton delegate this year, but was not chosen because of party rules meant to guarantee diversity. Looking ahead to a running mate In recent days, several news stories mentioned Clinton as a potential running mate for Obama, the so-called ``dream ticket,'' but this would not be the Illinois senator's strongest move, according Sugwon Kang of Oneonta, who also ran as a Clinton delegate candidate in February. ``That wouldn't be a bad ticket, but in this election I think Obama needs someone in sharp contrast to himself,'' Kang said. ``A white male is the way to go.'' Presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona will be counting on the white male vote, Kang said, and Obama could undercut this strategy by choosing a white male as his running mate, such as Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia. Former state Assembly member Anthony Casale of Cooperstown, a McCain delegate, said his man will beat either Democrat this fall. ``On the issues that most people care about, national security, who can keep us safe, McCain has a lot of support,'' he said. National security is an arena where the president, as commander in chief, has much power and responsibility, and voters want a man with McCain's military background and experience to take the reins, Casale said. Kang took a different view, saying McCain's alleged quick temper will underscore Obama's poise under pressure, an important quality in a leader. ``Obama is very composed, no matter what happens, and I think that quality will serve him well in the fall,'' said Kang, who predicted the general election will be hotly contested.
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