Clinton Camp Tired but Happy
March 5th, 2008 | EthioPolitics.com |
Her victory speech was loud and strident, her written press statements challenging and boastful. But during the quiet moments at Hillary Clinton’s rally in Columbus last night, and aboard her campaign plane bound for Washington early this morning, the mood was one of quiet relief. Winning Ohio and Texas means that her Presidential campaign will continue. But first it was time for weary smiles, a brief toast, and, finally, sleep.
“I worked my butt off. Everybody did,” said Lee Dixon, 60, a Clinton volunteer in the Ohio capital, as she shuffled toward the door after last night’s victory rally. “People are tired. But we are happy.”
Clinton’s supporters stood for hours in a dimly-lit hall in downtown Columbus, waiting quietly for their candidate to appear. The last two weeks had taken their toll. Senator Barack Obama had drawn closer to Clinton in the polls, and a number of Clinton’s longtime allies were calling on her to quit the race. “We’ve all been a little worried, honestly,” said Sherry Pickens, 49, a postal worker from Pataskala, Ohio who has volunteered to work phone banks for Clinton the last few weeks. “Around the campaign office, it really felt like we hit a low point last week.”