Clean Sweep Saturday

[onthebottom]

Did Obama sweep today's D primary voting in Louisiana, Washington and Nebraska?

OTB



Obama wins two contests

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent 54 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama won Democratic presidential contests in Nebraska and Washington state on Saturday, striking the latest blows in the back-and-forth battle with Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination.
ADVERTISEMENT

Nebraska and Washington, with a combined 102 delegates at stake, were the latest battlegrounds in a deadlocked race between Obama and Clinton where every delegate to this summer's nominating convention has become crucial. Louisiana Democrats also voted.

Among Republicans, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee easily won the presidential contest in Kansas, showing signs of life in a nominating race front-runner John McCain has nearly sewed up.

Huckabee captured about 60 percent of the vote in Kansas, more than double McCain's total. Nebraska and Washington also vote on Saturday in the Republican race to choose a candidate in November's presidential election.

"This race is far from being over," Huckabee told reporters after crushing McCain, just two days after the Arizona senator became the all-but-certain nominee with the withdrawal of his chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Huckabee is now the only major opponent for McCain, who has rolled up more than 700 of the 1,191 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination at this summer's convention. Texas Rep. Ron Paul also remains in the race.

McCain still faces widespread opposition from conservatives unhappy with his views on immigration, tax cuts and other issues. Huckabee promised at a conference of conservative activists to continue his shoestring campaign, which has made inroads with social and religious conservatives.

"Am I quitting? Let's get that settled right now. No, I'm not," Huckabee said to cheers at a Washington hotel. He promised to continue at least until McCain clinched the nomination.

"I know that I won't drop out until at least that happens and then we'll see," he told reporters, denying he was hoping to become McCain's vice-presidential running mate.

He shrugged off a call from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a McCain supporter, urging him to drop out. "Since he was endorsing my opponent, it rang a little hollow to me," he said.

"I did not major in math, but I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them," Huckabee said at a rally at the University of Maryland in College Park.

U.S. media projected that Obama had won the caucuses in Nebraska and Washington. New York Sen. Clinton and Illinois Sen. Obama are about even in pledged delegates but well short of the 2,025 needed to win nomination.

Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, was the favorite in all three contests. In Louisiana, he was expected to benefit from a high percentage of black voters, his strongest supporters.

 

[Asterix]

He was expected to. Who wins Pennsylvania will matter more. The nightmare scenario for the Democrats is that they will reach the convention and neither candidate will have enough to win on the first delegate vote. A brokered convention, far more common and accepted by people even a few decades ago, won't be so easily understood by voters today.

 

[onthebottom]

Sounds like it happened.....

Obama sweeps 3 states, Virgin Islands

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 23 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state Saturday night, slicing into Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's slender delegate lead in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Illinois senator also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign.

"Today, voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say 'yes we can'" Obama told a cheering audience of Democrats at a party dinner in Richmond, Va.

He jabbed simultaneously at Clinton and Arizona Sen. John McCain, saying the election was a choice between debating the Republican nominee-in-waiting "about who has the most experience in Washington, or debating him about who's most likely to change Washington. Because that's a debate we can win."

Clinton preceded Obama to the podium. She did not refer to the night's voting, instead turning against McCain. "We have tried it President Bush's way," she said, "and now the Republicans have chosen more of the same."

She left quickly after her speech, departing before Obama's arrival. But his supporters made their presence known, sending up chants of "Obama" from the audience as she made her way offstage.

Obama's winning margins ranged from substantial to crushing.

He won roughly two-thirds of the vote in Washington state and Nebraska, and almost 90 percent in the Virgin Islands.

Late Louisiana returns showed Obama with 55 percent of the vote, to 39 percent for the former first lady. As in his earlier Southern triumphs in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, Obama, a black man, rode a wave of African-American support to victory in Louisiana. Clinton won the white vote overwhelmingly.

In all, the Democrats scrapped for 161 delegates in the night's contests.

In initial allocations, Obama won 59, Clinton 29.

In overall totals in The Associated Press count, Clinton had 1,084 delegates to 1,057 for Obama. A total of 2,025 is required to win the nomination at the national convention in Denver.

The Democratic race moved into a new, post-Super Tuesday phase as McCain flunked his first ballot test since becoming the Republican nominee-in-waiting. He lost Kansas caucuses to Mike Huckabee, gaining less than 24 percent of the vote.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, got nearly 60 percent of the vote a few hours after telling conservatives in Washington, "I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them." He won all 36 delegates at stake.

McCain led Washington's caucuses, with returns counted from more than three-quarters of the precincts. In Louisiana, the two men were in a close race, although the presence of former candidate Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul on the ballot meant no candidate would gain the 50 percent required to pocket 20 delegates. Instead, they would be awarded at a state convention next weekend.

For all his brave talk, Huckabee was hopelessly behind in the delegate race. McCain had 719, compared with 234 for Huckabee and 14 for Paul. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at the national convention.

The Democrats' race was as close as the Republicans' was not, a contest between Obama, hoping to become the first black president, and Clinton, campaigning to become the first female commander in chief.

The two rivals contest primaries on Tuesday in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, all states where Obama and his campaign are hopeful of winning.

Preliminary results of a survey of voters leaving their polling places in Louisiana showed that nearly half of those casting ballots were black. As a group, African-Americans have overwhelmingly favored Obama in earlier primaries, helping him to wins in several Southern states.

Obama was gaining about 80 percent of the black votes statewide, while Clinton was winning 70 percent support among whites, the exit poll showed.

One in seven Democratic voters and about one in 10 Republicans said Hurricane Katrina had caused their families severe hardship from which they have not recovered. There was another indication of the impact the storm had on the state. Early results suggested that northern Louisiana accounted for a larger share of the electorate than in the past, presumably the result of the decline in population in the hurricane-battered New Orleans area.

McCain cleared his path to the party nomination earlier in the week with a string of Super Tuesday victories that drove Romney from the race. He spent the rest of the week trying to reassure skeptical conservatives, at the same time party leaders quickly closed ranks behind him.

His Kansas defeat aside, McCain also suffered a symbolic defeat when Romney edged him out in a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting across town from the White House.

The day's contests opened a new phase in the Democratic race between Clinton and Obama.

The Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses in 22 states, which once looked likely to effectively settle the race, instead produced a near-equal delegate split.

That left Obama and Clinton facing the likelihood of a grind-it-out competition lasting into spring — if not to the summer convention itself.

With the night's events, 29 of the 50 states have selected delegates.

Two more — Michigan and Florida — held renegade primaries and the Democratic National Committee has vowed not to seat any delegates chosen at either of them.

Maine, with 24 delegates, holds caucuses on Sunday. Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia and voting by Americans overseas are next, on Tuesday, with 175 combined.

Then follows a brief intermission, followed by a string of election nights, some crowded, some not.

The date of March 4 looms large, 370 delegates in primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Mississippi is alone in holding a primary one week later, with a relatively small 33 delegates at stake.

Puerto Rico anchors the Democratic calendar, with 55 delegates chosen in caucuses on June 7.

If Super Tuesday failed to settle the campaign, it produced a remarkable surge in fundraising.

Obama's aides announced he had raised more than $7 million on line in the two days that followed.

Clinton disclosed she had loaned her campaign $5 million late last month in an attempt to counter her rival's Super Tuesday television advertising. She raised more than $6 million in the two days after the busiest night in primary history.

The television ad wars continued unabated.

Obama has been airing commercials for more than a week in television markets serving every state that has a contest though Feb 19.

Clinton began airing ads midweek in Washington state, Maine and Nebraska, and added Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Friday.

The exit poll was conducted by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and the television networks.

 

[Kailani]

Not too many people are paying any attention but Obama has also won US Virgin Island by 86 percent.

 

[papasmerf]

Not too many people are paying any attention but Obama has also won US Virgin Island by 86 percent.

Congrats to him on that..........Talk about a place I want to be today

 

[Kailani]

Congrats to him on that..........Talk about a place I want to be today

Same here papa! My friend is flying into US Virgin Island every single day because that's he's job

 

[papasmerf]

Same here papa! My friend is flying into US Virgin Island every single day because that's he's job

He is either working for an airlines or a fool for leaving everyday

 

[Kailani]

He is either working for an airlines or a fool for leaving everyday

He works for airline and he's route is US Virgin Island-NYC for next 4 weeks

 

[papasmerf]

He works for airline and he's route is US Virgin Island-NYC for next 4 weeks

not a bad job if you can live on the pay

 

[Aardvark154]

AP is calling Sunday’s Maine Caucuses for Obama

 

[S.C. Joe]

Not only is Obama winning now, hes "crushing" her. Shes not losing by 5-10%, she lost by 20-30% yesterday and today-right now-by 16%, with 70% of the vote counted.

This morning the Clinton camp said they were going to win in Maine

 

[S.C. Joe]

The longer this goes on, the stronger Obama is getting-or the weaker Hillary is getting, depending on how you see it.

Recall too that Hillary needed to loan her campaign 5 million $ last month. I cry too if I had to fund my own campaign

 

[Aardvark154]

In the Maine Democratic Party Caucuses with 95 percent of caucuses reporting, Senator Obama has 2,079 committed Democratic State Convention Delegates to Senator Clinton's 1,396. This translates into fifteen Democratic National Convention Delegates for Senator Obama and nine Democratic National Convention Delegates for Senator Clinton.

 

[onthebottom]

All of a sudden she's not looking like a shoe in, and I think that and her gender were the only things she had going for her......

OTB

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

All of a sudden she's not looking like a shoe in, and I think that and her gender were the only things she had going for her......

OTB

Apparently she's made a change with her campaign manager.

Not a good sign for Hillary (and Gyaos).

 

[onthebottom]

It was a 4 state sweep (yes, and the USVI) and now the "Potomac Primaries" look promising for him as well:

Obama is expected to extend his lead in the so-called Potomac Primary -- contests in Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC -- on Tuesday.

Clinton had been hoping for a good showing in Maine on Sunday after earlier winning neighboring New Hampshire. But her loss in Maine took the delegate count to 1,139 for Obama against 1,135 for New York Senator Clinton, according to independent on line election tracker Real Clear Politics.

And now this:

Obama’s Path to Victory

By WILLIAM KRISTOL

Published: February 11, 2008

Last summer, George W. Bush told The Washington Examiner’s Bill Sammon that Hillary Clinton would probably be the 2008 Democratic nominee. “She’s got a national presence and this is becoming a national primary,” he said. “And therefore the person with the national presence who has got the ability to raise enough money to sustain an effort in a multiplicity of sites has got a good chance to be nominated.”

This seemed a reasonable judgment at the time. It may still turn out to be right. But today Barack Obama is neck-and-neck with Clinton in the national polls — and he’s shown a greater ability to raise money. After his strong showing over the weekend, it is Obama who now has the clearer path to his party’s nomination.

I’ll avoid a false precision in the numbers that follow. There are minor differences among news organizations in projecting delegate allocations in states that have already voted, and in counting preferences among the 796 elected officials and party leaders — the “superdelegates” — who vote according to their choice, not voters’ instruction.

Obama leads Clinton by roughly 70 delegates among about 2,000 chosen so far in primaries and caucuses. (There are still about 1,200 delegates outstanding.) Among the superdelegates, Clinton is ahead by about 100 superdelegates among the 300 who have declared a preference (though any of them can change their mind, so a count of them now is in large measure premature). All in all, Clinton seems to be slightly ahead.

She won’t be for long. On Tuesday Obama is expected to prevail in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. So around 9 p.m. Tuesday night, television networks probably will be announcing, for the first time, that Barack Obama holds an unambiguous delegate lead.

His lead in votes — which is already in the neighborhood of 200,000 — will probably have widened. And Obama should be able to increase those delegate and popular vote totals on Feb. 19, when Wisconsin and Hawaii go to the polls.

Next comes March 4, when Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island vote. Clinton’s campaign believes Ohio and Texas will constitute her firewall. Will it hold?

I suspect not. Obama will have momentum. He will likely have more money than Clinton for advertising. His ballot performance among Hispanics and working-class whites has generally been improving as the primary season has gone on. He intends to push a more robust economic message that could help him further narrow the gap among lower-income voters. And an interesting regression analysis at the Daily Kos Web site (poblano.dailykos.com) of the determinants of the Democratic vote so far, applied to the demographics of the Ohio electorate, suggests that Obama has a better chance than is generally realized in Ohio.

As for Texas, look for a couple of possible endorsements to help Obama there. If John Edwards campaigns for Obama in East Texas, and Bill Richardson defies the pleas of Bill Clinton and travels across the border from New Mexico to help out, Obama could prevail.

If Obama wins Ohio and Texas — or even wins one — he’ll be in good shape. He should take Wyoming on March 8 and Mississippi on March 11. Then there’s over a month until the next contest, in Pennsylvania on April 22. That stretch of time could be key. It could be the moment for many of the uncommitted superdelegates to begin ratifying the choice of Democratic primary voters, and to start moving en masse to Obama.

Many of these superdelegates are elected officials. They tend to care about winning in November. The polls suggest Obama matches up better with John McCain. And the polls are merely echoing the judgment of almost every Democratic elected official from a competitive district or a swing state with whom I’ve spoken. They would virtually all prefer Obama at the top of the ticket.

All of this will move the superdelegates to Obama — perhaps as early as just after March 4, or perhaps not until April 22, or perhaps not even until the last match-up on June 7. But the superdelegates will want to avoid a situation in which they could be in the position of seeming to override the popular vote, or of resolving a bitter battle over whether and how to count votes from Florida and Michigan, at the convention.

And there are, as a final resort, two super-superdelegates (so to speak) who would have the clout to help Democrats achieve closure: Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi.

If they stepped forward at the right time, they would earn the gratitude of their party. And they might also enjoy contemplating a derivative effect of their good deed — the fall of the house of Clinton.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

I watched Obama's speech on Saturday night, he's an extremely gifted orator. The switch to Clinton's speech showed a distinct contrast in oratory skills. Her voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard.

All in all though, Obama seems to me to be long on rhetoric and short on substance.

 

[onthebottom]

Do you really want Obama to be the Dem candidate?

I really do (as I've said a few dozen times now), even though I believe he has a much better chance of beating McCain. I'm ready for a debate of issues, not personalities and Obama/McCain will be about experience, issues and vision - which is what I think 08 should be about.

I care much more for this country than either group of ill-deserving lawyers we call political parties. If we can take the dialogue up a notch or two then I'm all for that. If we can talk about the opportunities, threats and challenges we face as a nation and do that in substance beyond a sound-byte then I'm all for that.

I supported McCain because I thought he'd take the religious dialogue out of the election, has a set of positions that are close to mine (but, as with anyone, I never agree with anyone all the time), has experience and frankly I think he's earned his shot at it.

I'll leave you with my favorite quote, by the creators of South Park.... "I hate conservatives but I fucking hate liberals....".

OTB

 

[TQM]

March 4

Ohio and Texas.

Victories for Obama in these states may turn a current into a rip tide. Or, if they are close, they may indicate that this will go down to the wire.

It sure is looking like Clinton would need Obama on her ticket. And while I don't think Obama would "need" Clinton, it will obviously be something he'd have to consider.

 

[frasier]

I
I supported McCain because I thought he'd take the religious dialogue out of the election, has a set of positions that are close to mine (but, as with anyone, I never agree with anyone all the time), has experience and frankly I think he's earned his shot at it.

OTB

Bob Dole "deserved" a shot at it....where did it get him?
McCain will loose ot OBAMA because politics for the public is never about issues it's about perception.