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WASHINGTON | Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, on Friday called on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the presidential race, saying there is no way the senator from New York could wrest the Democratic nomination from Barack Obama.
“She ought to withdraw, and she ought to be backing Senator Obama,” Leahy, an Obama supporter, said in an interview Friday with Vermont Public Radio
Saying Republican contender John McCain “has been making one gaffe after another (and) is getting a free ride,” Leahy said the sniping between Democrats hurt them more than anything the senator from Arizona had thrown their way.
Leahy was the first prominent superdelegate to call on Clinton to withdraw.
Clinton’s campaign, in a fundraising e-mail to supporters Friday, noted a pattern to calls for her to withdraw.
“Every time our campaign demonstrates its strength and resilience, people start to suggest we should end our pursuit of the Democratic nomination,” said the note, which made no mention of Leahy. “Those anxious to force us to the sidelines aren’t doing it because they think we’re going to lose the upcoming primaries. The fact is, they’re reading the same polls we are, and they know we are in a position to win.”
With the two senators battling for support from voters and superdelegates in the coming primaries, Obama picked up a new endorsement Friday from an unexpected source: Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, who had earlier said he would stay neutral until Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary.
End sniping, Dean urges
WASHINGTON | The Democratic Party chief said Friday that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and their supporters should avoid personal attacks because it could damage the party’s chances of winning the presidency.
Howard Dean also pushed superdelegates.
“There’s 800 of them, and 450 have already said who they’re for,” Dean said on CBS’ “The Early Show.” “I’d like the other 350 to say who they’re for … so we don’t have to take this into the convention.”

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