At last minute, Clinton adds Wednesday campaign stop in West Virginia
DC fundraiser also on updated schedule released Wed. morning
As it became clear that Tuesday night wouldn't give Hillary Clinton the "game changer" she had hoped for in her effort to topple Barack Obama, she decided to take a day off from the campaign trail. Perhaps worried about the "Is she dropping out?" speculation that would spark, Clinton changed her mind seven hours later and decided to appear at a campaign stop in West Virginia and a fundraiser in Washington Wednesday.
After suffering a 14-point rout from Obama in North Carolina and barely squeaking by in Indiana, the perception is congealing that Clinton has lost the nomination fight. At 11 p.m. Tuesday, with her Indiana lead rapidly shrinking, Clinton's campaign released her schedule showing no public events for the following day.
By 6:30 Wednesday morning, the campaign amended that schedule, adding a stop at Shepherd University in West Virginia, which votes next Tuesday, and a DC fundraiser.
Tuesday night, NBC reported Clinton was canceling morning show appearances and her public events, but a campaign spokesman said she had never intended to appear on any morning shows to begin with.
The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for an explanation of the schedule change Wednesday morning.
In her Indiana victory speech Tuesday night, Clinton vowed to fight on, predicting wins in upcoming primaries in West Virginia and Kentucky. On Thursday she returns to West Virginia and has stops scheduled in South Dakota and Oregon, both of which have upcoming primaries.
Obama exceeded expectations with his win in North Carolina, where he took 56 percent of the vote to Clinton's 42 percent. And Clinton failed to deal a substantial blow to Obama's campaign in Indiana, where the two essentially played to a draw; Clinton took 51 percent to Obama's 49 percent.
The results prompted NBC's Tim Russert to declare, " We now know who the Democratic nominee is gonna be," referring to Obama.
Clinton is expected to win in Kentucky and West Virginia, with Obama seen as enough of a favorite in Oregon to lock up a majority of pledged delegates when that state votes May 20.
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