West Virginia votes in primary; Obama, Clinton vote in Senate

WASHINGTON – As voters in West Virginia went to the polls for that state’s presidential primary today, Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton came in from the campaign trail to cast votes in the U.S. Senate.

Obama and Clinton voted against opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and some coastal waters to drilling by oil companies.

They also voted to open debate on a bill giving collective-bargaining rights to firefighters, police officers and state and local first-responders. The measure is opposed by the Bush administration, which fears it could disrupt the nation’s emergency response capability. Republicans derided the measure as a political payback to unions for their support in the elections. “Let’s be honest,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). “This bill is a political payoff to big labor bosses, whose political support is needed to keep Democrats in charge of Congress.”

“While American families are facing an uncertain economy, Democrats are shamefully pushing another job-killing bill to help line the pockets of organized labor,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. “Let’s be honest: This bill is a political payoff to big labor bosses, whose political support is needed to keep Democrats in charge of Congress.”

Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, interrupting their presidential campaigns, voted to begin debate on the bill. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, was not present.

a bill The senators were greeted warmly by colleagues, who have split their endorsements between the two. Obama, who was criticized for seeming to turn away from Clinton during the State of the Union address, went over and greeted her in the Senate chamber.

Back on the campaign trail, Clinton was expected to win today’s primary by a wide margin, and her aides hit the morning talk shows to insist that a win in West Virginia would plant new seeds of doubt in the minds of superdelegates who will likely decide the nomination.

“Democrats across the country tomorrow will be asking themselves why Sen. Obama – with all of his money, with all of the great press, with voters being told he was the inevitable nominee – why did Sen. Obama lose West Virginia by 15 points or so?” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said on NBC’s “Today” show, adding, “What does it say about his candidacy at this date that he can’t beat Sen. Clinton in a key swing state?”

But the Illinois senator, who is leading in the delegate count and is widely expected to win the nomination, continued to pick up endorsements from superdelegates – 27 this week alone, almost equal to the 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia’s primary. Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado, Democratic National Committee chairman and superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, announced his support this morning.

“Colorado has a state convention this Saturday [and] it was obvious that it would be helpful if I make my position known,” he said in a conference call with reporters. “The math is controlling. This race, I believe, is over. Sen. Obama has amassed a lead … that cannot be overcome. It is time for the party to unify … and move on to the general election.”

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Anita Bonds, chairwoman of the D.C. Democratic Party, also joined the Obama side. Nagin said in a statement that Obama can “help heal the divisions of the past and unify this country.”

Clinton aides discouraged talk of how the New York senator can retire her campaign debt, said to top $20 million, or her interest in a vice presidential slot on an Obama ticket. Asked whether there have been any “exit strategy” negotiations between the two sides, Clinton campaign manager Terry McAuliffe told Fox News: “Zero. And let me unequivocally say, there have been no negotiations between the two campaigns. We’re both trying to win the nomination.”

Republican John McCain missed the Senate votes to continue his campaigning in the Pacific Northwest. One day after announcing his intention to confront global warming, McCain flew to Seattle to hold an environmental round table with local environmental leaders and go for a hike near the Cedar River Watershed Education Center.

Times Staff Writers Maeve Reston, with McCain in Seattle; and Richard Simon, covering the Senate in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.