KYLE, S.D. — Hillary Rodham Clinton touted her electability before audiences Wednesday, saying her wins in swing states and strong vote margins among certain voting blocs give her the best chance of defeating Republican John McCain in November.
Clinton argued her case on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in remote southwestern South Dakota while campaign aides in Washington peppered uncommitted superdelegates with data indicating why she should be the Democratic nominee.
“What we have to do is determine who will be the best president and the stronger candidate against Sen. McCain,” she told a couple hundred residents of the reservation. “I believe I am, and I believe the states I have won and the electoral votes I will win make a very strong argument for that.”
To bolster the argument, her campaign sent uncommitted superdelegates a letter, a memo and a compilation of state polling data demonstrating how she would run stronger than Barack Obama — who is closing in on the nomination — in the fall. Among other things, they pointed to her wins in primaries in such swing states as Ohio and West Virginia, and her strong margins among certain voting blocs, such as older women, Latinos and rural voters.
“I hope you will consider the results of the recent primaries and what they tell us about the mindset of voters in the key battleground states,” Clinton said in the letter.
