Clinton campaigns on amid clamour to drop out
BATH, South Dakota (Reuters) - Sitting on board Sen.Hillary Clinton's campaign plane are the remnants of acolourful balloon replica of the candidate, once nearlylife-size but now almost deflated and shrivelled.
Like the once cheery caricature, the former first ladysoldiers on, but her campaign for the Democratic presidentialnomination is on the down-swing.
Crowds are shrinking, media attention is waning, supportersare jumping ship and calls are growing for her to drop out andhelp unite the Democrats behind Barack Obama.
Her voice hoarse and less forceful than it has been in moreimpassioned speeches, Clinton still seemed inscrutable andupbeat campaigning this week in South Dakota. The rural stateholds one of the last nominating primaries on June 3.
"There's a lot of people who say, 'Well, you know, weshould just wrap this up.' Well, I've never been impatient withdemocracy," she said. "I think actually letting people vote is,on balance, a really good thing and has served our country wellover many, many years."
Clinton, a New York senator, vows to stay in the race untilthe last primary despite a campaign deeply in debt. She trailsIllinois Sen. Obama in the popular vote, in pledged conventiondelegates and in superdelegates who can back any candidate theychoose.
"You're going to see a lot of us between now and June 3,"she told voters in South Dakota.
While the candidate once campaigned relentlessly with fouror five events a day, she now has two or three. The number ofpress spokesmen with her is down to one from two, and the presscorps barely fills one bus when once it filled two.
As she steps from her plane, Clinton smiles and waves butno crowd actually awaits her.
SAGGING AND TANGLED
The balloon gift from a supporter last month used to be asmiling image with yellow balloons for hair, pink balloons forlips and black balloons for its trademark pantsuit. Now thememento is sagging and tangled.
To hear Clinton tell it, she will stay in the race untilevery state primary is held, with June 3 the do-or-die date.She often compares her situation to a sporting event in whichthe losing team, trailing however badly, plays to the end.
But critics are more likely to compare it to a boxingmatch, with the losing fighter knocked to the mat and unable toget up. Winning the remaining primaries would not give her thedelegate support she needs to overcome Obama's lead.
In sparsely populated Bath, about 300 people turned up tohear Clinton talk about farming and economic woes. Severalspoke out for her to stay in the race.
"My opinion is that the people that vote are the ones thatcount. I'm not for how many delegates there are or any of thatkind of stuff," said Debra Pulfrey, 49, a nursing assistantfrom Aberdeen. "I think she should keep right on going."
Retiree Marilyn Rekow, 74, echoed the sentiment.
"Just stick with what you believe and don't kowtow to theObama forces," she said. An undecided voter, she said: "I'mgoing to weigh these suckers right up until the very end."
But in the online world of blogs and opinion pieces, callsabound for Clinton to drop out. Critics say her persistentcampaign could hurt Obama's fight against presumptiveRepublican nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain in the Novemberelection.
On the popular video site YouTube, a scathing parody of thefilm "Sunset Boulevard" shows Clinton in the role of NormaDesmond, the delusional, over-the-hill actress who is no longera star but insists, "I'm ready for my close-up."
In The Washington Post, columnist Dana Milbank comparedClinton's plight to a well-known dead parrot sketch by theMonty Python comedy troupe, in which a customer tries to returna deceased bird to a pet shop only to be told it is sleeping orstunned.
"This is an ex-parrot," the customer insists.
"This is an ex-candidate," the Post headline said.
(Editing by Vicki Allen)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp:/blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)