WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Hillary Clinton used her big win in West Virginia on Tuesday to make her case that she has a better chance of beating the Republicans in the general election.
Related video: Watch Clinton's West Virginia victory speech
CHARLESTON, West Virginia (CNN) –There was never much of a question about who would win the West Virginia primary. The electorate is made up of older, white, blue-collar voters that have become Hillary Clinton's base.
But they've also been hearing a week of speculation that Obama's path to the nomination is inevitable. So why turn out?
"I think she's got the experience to get us out of a deep hole," said Johnny Nance, a preservation contractor who owns the building in Huntington where Clinton has a campaign office. "You can't win this country's [presidency] without winning West Virginia. We've picked them the whole 20th century," added Nance before saying he'd support whomever the Democratic nominee is.
"She's brilliant," said Veda Hughes, 58, joined by three friends at Clinton's victory party Tuesday night.
Does the impression the New York senator can't win bother her? "Heck no! No! We're in this 'til the end, it doesn't bother us at all!"
(CNN) - Democrat Travis Childers has defeated Republican Greg Davis in the special election for an open congressional seat in northern Mississippi, CNN projected Tuesday night, based on early returns.
Republicans have held the seat since 1994.
UPDATE: National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole said in a statement he is "disappointed" with the result.
"Republicans must undertake bold efforts to define a forward looking agenda that offers the kind of positive change voters are looking for," Cole also said. "This is something we can do in cooperation with our Presidential nominee, but time is short."
(Full Cole statement after the jump)
Watch a clip from Sen. Clinton's West Virginia victory speech. (AP Photo)
(CNN) - After a projected win by a wide margin in West Virginia, Sen. Hillary Clinton told her supporters Tuesday night - and by implication, the Democratic Party's outstanding uncommitted superdelegates - that she is not dropping out of the White House race any time soon.
(CNN) - A senior McCain adviser tells CNN's Dana Bash the presumptive Republican nominee called Hillary Clinton to congratulate her on her primary win in West Virginia.
McCain has not called either Democratic candidate after the past few contests - but he has made clear in the past that he admires Clinton's tenacity. The two have long had a cordial relationship in the Senate.
The Obama campaign says the Illinois senator also called Clinton to offer his congratulations, reports CNN's Chris Welch, but was unable to reach her, and left a voicemail.
(CNN) - If Hillary Clinton ends up winning more than 70.05 percent of the vote in West Virginia tonight, she will have her best showing of the campaign to date.
Clinton's biggest victory so far this campaign came in the Arkansas primary on Super Tuesday, February 5, when she beat Barack Obama 70.05 percent to 26.25 percent - the Illinois senator's poorest showing to date.
The Arkansas primary marked the only contest so far where Clinton reached the 70 percent vote threshold. So far Obama has reached or exceeded 70 percent in five contests: the DC primary (75 percent), and the caucuses in Alaska (75 percent), Hawaii (76 percent), Idaho (79 percent), and Kansas (74 percent).
Clinton's second best showing was in the Rhode Island primary on March 4, when she captured 58 percent of the vote.
(CNN) - Exit polling shows Hillary Clinton winning a slim majority of independent voters in West Virginia’s Democratic primary. Eighteen percent of the voters in today's Democratic contest identified themselves as independents; they went for Clinton over Obama, 53 percent to 40 percent.
(CNN) - Despite a week of intense media speculation about whether Hillary Clinton will drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination, early exit polling in today's West Virginia Democratic primary shows 70 percent of the voters would prefer the campaign to continue. Only 25 percent say the campaign should end as soon as possible.
Watch Bill Schneider explain Sen. Clinton's win in West Virginia.
(CNN) - Watch CNN's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider and Soledad O'Brien discuss exit polling data that breaks down Sen. Clinton's West Virginia win.
From CNN Politics
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