Clinton poised for W.Va. win; Obama looks ahead

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Hillary Rodham Clinton had every reason to expect a big victory over Obama in West Virginia yet scant hope it could turn around her presidential bid.

She campaigned, though, like it mattered, even as Obama did little more than a drop-by in a state that seemed poised to shun him.

Interest is keen in the primary, judging by a record turnout of more than 70,000 people who cast ballots in person before Tuesday in the state's liberal early voting system.

The Illinois senator may be only a few weeks from clinching the Democratic nomination, no matter what happens in West Virginia or in another Clinton stronghold, Kentucky, a week later.

In his tone, words and itinerary, Obama is focused on Republican John McCain almost to the exclusion of his fading Democratic rival. He planned to spend primary night in Missouri, a bellwether in the fall general campaign.

Clinton was not going quietly. Not yet.

The New York senator implored West Virginians in four stops Monday to send her forward with a convincing win.

"This may be the most important vote you've ever cast," she told a crowd in Fairmont. "Let's have a huge vote in West Virginia."

And she invoked history to counter the inexorable math of the delegate count that's falling into place for her opponent.

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