Virginia Democratic Party Caucuses White House Statement.

The President very much appreciates the strong support shown his candidacy in today's decisive victory in the Virginia Democratic caucus.

The President wishes to thank the hundreds of Virginia volunteers whose dedication and hard work made the victory possible. Volunteers always play a major role in the success of any political campaign, but their efforts have been particularly important because of the need of the President to remain in Washington to manage the Nation's affairs.

The continuing primaries and caucuses provide voters from across the country the opportunity to express their views on the type of leadership they want for the next 4 years, and the President is grateful for the continued strong preference shown his candidacy in all regions of the country.

The victory in Virginia once again increases the percentage of the vote Senator Kennedy would have to gain in subsequent primaries and caucuses if he is to have any hope of attaining the number of delegates necessary to secure the Democratic nomination. Preliminary estimates of the final Virginia vote indicate that Senator Kennedy will now have to capture 62 percent of the delegates in the remaining primaries and caucuses in order to gain the nomination.

Prior to today's caucus, the President had 656 delegates, Senator Kennedy had 214 delegates, and there were 59 uncommitted delegates—a total of 929. A total of 1,666 delegates is necessary to win the nomination.