Deaton: Clinton Should Drop OutBY STEVE BOUSER: EDITORBrian Deaton, chairman of the Moore County Democratic Party, Thursday joined those calling for Sen. Hillary Clinton to withdraw from the presidential race.
"The Clinton campaign should acknowledge the fact that even with Florida and Michigan votes, they cannot surpass (Sen. Barack) Obama in elected delegates," Pinehurst resident Deaton said in a telephone interview. "They are putting to much hope in an unlikely implosion event by Obama or an even unlikelier overturn of the primary results by the superdelegates."
Tuesday's primary election results, in which Obama heavily carried North Carolina and Clinton barely squeaked through in Indiana, increased the already long odds that Clinton could win the Democratic nomination to go up against Republican nominee-presumptive John McCain in the fall.
Clinton has suffered some key defections to the Obama camp. Financial shortcomings have also prompted her to make another personal loan of several million dollars to her campaign.
Yet Clinton vowed
at a gathering in Washington Wednesday night: "I am in this race. I am staying in this race."
Deaton expressed concern that this attitude of divisiveness was only hurting Clinton's reputation and making it harder for the ultimate Democratic nominee to win in November.
"It is time to shift the discussion from phony but divisive differences between Clinton and Obama to the very real, significant policy differences between the Democratic and Republican parties," Deaton said in his statement.
He added in an interview: "It's time to get in touch with the math that's at play here. It's fine if we want to allow the remaining states to cast their votes in the primaries, but when that process is done, it's time to face the facts that are there and get behind the candidate and get moving."
