US:BARACK OBAMA has made further gains among Democratic superdelegates despite Hillary Clinton's massive victory on Tuesday in West Virginia's primary, which she won by more than two to one.
Three more superdelegates - elected officials and other senior party figures - endorsed Mr Obama yesterday, compared to just one expressing support for Mrs Clinton.
The former first lady was in Washington yesterday for meetings with uncommitted superdelegates and top donors after she told supporters in West Virginia that she would remain in the race until all states have voted on June 3rd.
"I am in this race because I believe I am the strongest candidate - the strongest candidate to lead our party in November of 2008 and the strongest president to lead our nation starting in January of 2009," she said.
"I can win this nomination if you decide I should, and I can lead this party to victory in the general election if you lead me to victory now."
Mrs Clinton won taking 67 per cent of the vote in West Virginia, compared to Mr Obama's 26 per cent and 7 per cent for John Edwards, who withdrew from the Democratic race in January.
Mrs Clinton won nearly every demographic group, according to exit polls, including men, women, young voters, older voters, people earning less than $50,000 a year and those earning more than that. Seventy per cent of Democratic voters in the state described Mrs Clinton as sharing their own values, while only 47 per cent said that Mr Obama does.
West Virginia is overwhelmingly white and 20 per cent of white voters said the race of the candidate was a factor in their vote. Just 32 per cent of those voters said they'd support Mr Obama against Republican John McCain, fewer than in other primaries where the question has been asked.
Mrs Clinton said her victory in West Virginia not only brought her popular vote close to 17 million but reinforced her case as the Democrat best placed to defeat Mr McCain in November.
"We've won them in states that we must be prepared and ready to win in November - Pennsylvania and Ohio, Arkansas and New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Michigan, Florida, and now West Virginia. It is a fact that no Democrat has won the White House since 1916 without winning West Virginia," she said.
Mrs Clinton's victory won her a net gain of just 12 delegates and she remains almost 140 behind Mr Obama in the total delegate count. Mr Obama is ahead among elected delegates, superdelegates, states won and the overall popular vote.
Mrs Clinton is ahead in the polls in Kentucky, which votes next Tuesday but trails Mr Obama in Oregon, which holds its primary the same day. Mrs Clinton is expected to win Puerto Rico on June 1st, but Mr Obama is ahead in Montana and South Dakota, which vote two days later.
Mr Obama sought yesterday to reach out to working-class white voters, campaigning in Michigan, where he promised car workers that he would invest billions of dollars in revitalising US manufacturing.
"I won't stand here and tell you that we'll be able to stop every job from going overseas or bring every job back," he said.
"But I will tell you that we can end the Bush-McCain policy of giving tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas, and we can start giving those tax breaks to companies that create good-paying jobs right here in America."
Democrats were yesterday celebrating the victory of Travis Childers in a special election in a congressional district of Mississippi that has been in Republican hands since 1994.
The result, which was the third recent Democratic victory in a Republican stronghold, added to deepening gloom among Republicans. Oklahoma congressman Tom Cole, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said the party was disappointed and needed to be better prepared to deal with conservative Democratic candidates like the pro-gun, anti-abortion Mr Childers.
"Voters remain pessimistic about the direction of the country and the Republican Party general. Republicans must undertake bold efforts to define a forward-looking agenda that offers the kind of positive change voters are looking for," Mr Cole said.