|
Former president coming to Lenoir
By Paul Teague, Local News EditorConducting a campaign blitz less than 48 hours before voters go to the polls, former President Bill Clinton has scheduled a stop in Lenoir on Sunday. The visit is designed to bolster support for Clinton's wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, in her Democratic presidential nomination fight against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. The Lenoir appearance by the 42nd president is part of a two-day, 14-town schedule that includes Marion, Morganton and Hickory. Clinton served as president from 1993-2001, becoming the first Democrat to complete two terms since Franklin Roosevelt. Details of Clinton's stop had not been released as of Friday evening. The News-Topic will provide information of the campaign's plans in Sunday morning's edition. Registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters who head to the polls Tuesday will decide the allocation of pledged delegates in the Democratic presidential race. According to a Rasmussen Reports tracking poll that was released Friday, the former first lady has cut Obama's 14-point lead (51-37) down to 49-40. Clinton is trying to build on the momentum she picked up after winning the Pennsylvania primary April 22. Aside from North Carolina, there also is a Tuesday primary in Indiana. Despite her recent success, Clinton still trails Obama in the delegate race. And because Democratic Party rules allot delegates on a proportional basis, rather than a winner-take-all format, she faces a daunting task to wrest the nomination away from Obama and earn the right to take on Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in November. Although primarily a Republican stomping ground, the former president figures to be campaigning for Democratic voters in an area where there is likely to be solid support for his wife. Based on results from previous primaries in Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania, Sen. Clinton - who is in her second term representing New York - has received as much as 80 percent of the Appalachian region's vote, according to post-election analyses. Earlier in the week, Obama made a campaign swing into the area, including stops in Hickory and Winston-Salem.
|
