Exclusive: Clinton Vows to Push On

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Some of your supporters have said this issue of Senator Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright is something that should give superdelegates pause on the electability issue. Do you think Senator Obama has answered everything he should on that? Has the press and the public asked the right questions about that?

Well, that's really up to the press and the public to determine, but I was asked specifically today what I would do if I had been in a similar situation and it was obviously a personal opinion of mine and I said, you know, I would have left because that would not have been something I was comfortable with. But it's very personal and I think people are kind of thinking about it and are trying to determine what they believe about it.

You live in a household with a pretty high appetite and aptitude for polling data and for exit election returns. In looking at the exit polls from the states that have voted and from the returns from states that have voted, do you see any arguments you can make about your relative strength compared to Senator Obama in winning a general election?

Well, I think I have a lot of support that Democrats have to have in November. I've done obviously very well with women, who are a majority of the electorate, and the real core of the Democratic Party electoral victories. I've done very well with Hispanics. I've done very well with, you know, a lot of hard-working people who get up every day and know they need a President to try to straighten out the economy and get our country back on the right track. I've done well with older voters who are very solid part of the general election electorate and I feel very privileged to have that kind of support in states that Democrats have to win. You know, we have to anchor our electoral map in the states that we must win and I think I'm in a good position to do that.

You left out one group. It's a little sensitive in the current context to ask about it, but you didn't mention white voters. Is that an advantage you see in the states that have voted so far and in the exit polls?

Well, I think, you know, voters come in all sizes and shapes and every other characteristic and we usually put together coalitions of voters, but I want to be the President for everyone. I will obviously be reaching out to African-American voters, you know, whom I deeply respect, as they make their own decisions in these elections, but we're going to have to come together because no matter the differences between Senator Obama and myself, the differences between the Democrats and Senator McCain are monumental. I just finished giving a speech about Social Security in which I quoted Senator McCain saying just a few weeks ago that he would continue George Bush's efforts to privatize Social Security. Well, you know, that's a very big difference and you know I think I am in a very strong position to be able to go toe-to-toe with John McCain, to be able to deal with him on national security and foreign policy and to trump him on the economy and health care and Social Security and so many of the other signature issues that we have to face. So it is something that I feel very good about my chances against Senator McCain.

Last question Senator. Some people look at the current state of the delegate counts and say the only way you can win the nomination is at the convention, with a convention where delegates move around perhaps, and you'll make your case side by side. Are you comfortable if that's the way you win the nomination, going all the way to Denver and winning it there? Is that a comfortable outcome for you?

You know it's the same thing for Senator Obama. Neither of us will reach the number of delegates needed. So I think that that is, you know, the reality for both of our campaigns. And all delegates have to assess who they think will be the strongest nominee against McCain and who they believe would do the best job in bringing along the down-ballot races and who they think would be the best President. And, from my perspective, those are all very legitimate questions, and as you know so well, Mark, every delegate with very few exceptions is free to make up his or her mind however they choose. We talk a lot about so-called pledged delegates, but every delegate is expected to exercise independent judgment. And, you know, I'm just going to do the best I can in the next 10 contests to make my case to the voters in those elections and then we'll see where we are.

Sounds like you'll still be in the race by the time the next few issues of TIME magazine get published.

(Laughs) Well, I think so.

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