Clintons push turnout on the brink of KY primary

LOUISVILLE -- Results from tomorrow's presidential primaries in Kentucky and Oregon could theoretically meet the goals of the "expectations game" set by both the campaign of Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Today, Obama's campaign pushed the point that they could end Tuesday with a majority of pledged delegates won. At the same time, Clinton's people will argue they could emerge from the day with a clear majority in the popular vote.

Either candidate sits atop the polls in one of the states by at least 20 points. It is here in Kentucky where Clinton is favored, and where she spent election eve with husband and former President Bill Clinton at a rally in front of around 600 supporters in Louisville.

The principal theme of the evening was pushing turnout, and everyone who took the stage hammered home the point that not only should voters vote, but that they should bring others with them to the polls.

"I need your help to not only go vote yourselves, but to bring as many people as you can bring with you," said Senator Clinton.

"Take people with you to go vote," said Clinton's Kentucky campaign chair Jerry Lundergan earlier in the evening. "If will pull this wagon together, we will send her over the top in popular vote."

With a 26 point lead over Obama in the latest poll, a large turnout would likely fall in her favor.

President Clinton clearly made this argument during his remarks this evening, while returning to a theme of populism that he utilized in an earlier swing through the state.

"I think it is very interesting that, one more time, you are being told you don't need to go bother and vote tommorrow, your vote doesn't matter," said the former President. "Just wait a minute here. Let's look at the facts. If you follow your neighbor over in West Virginia and tell those people that they are not telling you how to vote, and whether to vote, and that you don't matter - and you send her a big victory tomorrow, then it is way more likely than not that she will win the popular vote when all these votes are counted."

The former President also had harsh words for those who he perceived were "decapitating Florida and Michigan" by pushing for delegates from those states not to be counted at the Democratic National Convention.

"That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard of," said Mr. Clinton.

Those states were stripped of their delegations after they moved their primaries up in the calendar year, in violation of Democratic National Committee rules.

Senators Obama and Clinton subsequently agreed not to campaign in either state.

While Obama's name rarely left the lips of any of the speakers on stage this evening, the Clintons took their share of subtle jabs at the perception that his candidacy is heavy on rhetoric. This is the charge the Clinton camp has drilled home with many supporters throughout the race and which was recognized tonight by the crowd despite shrouds of indirectness.

When discussing how to "clean up" after the Bush administration, Clinton said she was not about "speeches."

"I don't think you can do that if you go hear a speech and you walk away and say what is going to happen next," said Clinton. "I want a campaign not about speeches - it's about solutions."

With that in mind, Clinton spent much of the remainder of her speech running through a list of policies she would enact, prefacing almost every point with a direct "I will."

The Clintons also targeted one of the buzzwords of the Obama campaign - change. Tonight, President Clinton argued his wife was the real "change maker."

"You've got to figure out how to turn speeches into solutions," said President Clinton. "She is the single best change maker that I have ever met in my life."

The entire Clinton family will converge in Louisville tomorrow night for election night festivities at the Downtown Marriot Hotel.

Polls for the primary open at 6am and close at 6pm EST in the portion of the state in the eastern time zone and 7pm EST in the portion of the state in the central time zone.