RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye talked with Chelsea Clinton at a February Democratic rally for Hillary Clinton at Ward Centre. Chelsea Clinton appeared in Hawaii on her mother's behalf.

Inouye still hopeful for Clinton

Recent poll results are discouraging, though, the isle senator says

Daniel Inouye, Hawaii's senior senator, says he will not tell Sen. Hillary Clinton she should halt her campaign for president.

"I don't want to add to her misery by making any comment at this point. I am certain she will make a right decision one way or the other," said Inouye, who endorsed Clinton last May.

He said he thinks there are still ways for Clinton to win, but added that her poor results in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries this week "were not encouraging."

Inouye predicted that Clinton would likely make a decision after the next primaries, Tuesday and May 20.

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In a phone interview from Washington, D.C., yesterday, Inouye, who endorsed Clinton nearly a year ago, said the former first lady's performance in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries this week did not help her.

While Democratic Party leaders, including former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, have urged Clinton to drop out of the race, Inouye said he would not offer his opinion.

"It is difficult enough for her at this moment for talk of this nature," he said.

"I don't want to add to her misery by making any comment at this point. I am certain she will make a right decision one way or the other," said Inouye, one of Hawaii's nine superdelegates, who said he is pledged to Clinton.

Inouye, who has been a friend since Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, said Hillary Clinton had been hoping for a stronger showing in this week's primaries, and she needs a big win in the upcoming contests in West Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon.

"If she had come forward with 10 percent (margin of victory), that would have been encouraging. You can still say, 'I did better,' but the reality of it is the Clintons were hoping to come forth with something better than a 1 percent victory," Inouye said. "I don't see how that could be encouraging."

After primaries Tuesday and May 20, Clinton might decide whether to keep her campaign moving, Inouye said.

"I would think that you will go through the next round, and then soon after, a decision will be made," he said.

But Inouye cautioned that there is no real hurry for a Clinton decision. Asked if he thinks Clinton can still win, despite estimates that she has not won enough Democratic delegate votes to capture the nomination, Inouye said there is always a way.

"There are many ways. One can say that a lot of things can happen between now and the election; after all, Bill Clinton was No. 3 during this time in the election in 1992," Inouye said.

For instance, Inouye said, if Clinton won the next primaries "by 15 points or 20 points, people would raise their eyebrows."

If Clinton does decide to quit, Inouye said, she would likely make that decision soon.

"I would think that soon after the next round, the decision would be made. I think the natural course of events would be that the initiative would come from the candidate him- or herself.

"Maybe at that point, some of the superdelegates may step in and say, 'I think it is time for us to get together,'" Inouye said.

Inouye said he doubted that Clinton and Obama would run as a Democratic team in the fall.

"From the statements issued by both campaigns, it would seem impossible at this time," he said.

Although he added that the race between Lyndon Johnson and John Kennedy in 1960 was more fiercely fought than the 2008 campaign, Kennedy and Johnson did team up to beat Republicans Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge.

"That was not a friendly deal," said Inouye, who gave the convention speech seconding Johnson's nomination for vice president.

"I sat in on some of the campaign meetings. There were several senior people in the committee who said, 'Please, Lyndon, don't take it,' because they were so angry," Inouye said.

Inouye believes that in the fall, after the nominating convention, the Democratic Party will come together behind either candidate.

"We will be well organized and united. The media makes it out like the primary is the beginning of a civil war, but you will see us together," Inouye said.