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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMA
CLINTON STAFFERS CIRCULATE 'DRESSED' OBAMA
Mon Feb 25 2008 06:51:00 ET
With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a "dressed" Barack Obama.
The photo, taken in 2006, shows the Democrat frontrunner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya.
The senator was on a five-country tour of Africa.
"Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?" questioned one campaign staffer, in an email obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT.
In December, the campaign asked one of its volunteer county coordinators in Iowa to step down after the person forwarded an e-mail falsely stating that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
Obama campaign manager David Plouffe quickly accused the Clinton campaign Monday of 'shameful offensive fear-mongering' for circulating the snap.
Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams responds: "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed."
EDITOR'
S NOTE: Other leaders have worn local costumes:
Obama gains ground on Clinton in Ohio
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama gained ground against rival Hillary Clinton in the battleground U.S. state of Ohio on Monday as their race took a negative turn.
With a week to go until a potentially pivotal vote in Ohio and Texas on March 4, a Quinnipiac University poll said Clinton leads Obama in Ohio by 51 percent to 40 percent among likely Democratic voters.
This was a narrowing from 55 percent to 34 percent lead she held less than two weeks ago, and was a sign that Obama's momentum was paying dividends in Ohio.
New York Sen. Clinton needs big victories in Ohio and Texas to salvage her campaign to be the Democratic nominee in the November election after losing 11 straight contests to Obama, a first-term Illinois senator.
She was to give a foreign policy speech in Washington on Monday.
Independent Ralph Nader, 74, defended his decision to make a late entry into the presidential race. Nader was blamed by many Democrats for taking votes away from Vice President Al Gore in Florida in 2000, helping Republican George W. Bush win the presidency.
"I think the two parties have spoiled our electoral and political system," he told CBS.
Clinton's aura of inevitability has been shattered in recent weeks by her string of losses, and the talk of Washington was whether she would be able to remain a viable candidate if she registers more losses on March 4.
Robert Novak, a conservative who is a syndicated columnist published in The Washington Post, wrote on Monday that Democratic Party elders were asking: "Who will tell her that it's over, that she cannot win the presidential nomination and that the sooner she leaves the race, the more it will improve the party's chances of defeating (Republican) Sen. John McCain in November?"
Clinton, after a fairly civil debate with Obama last Thursday in Texas during which she said she was honored to share the stage with him, has spent the last couple of days complaining about Obama's tendency to deliver speeches long on hope and short on substantive details.
"I could just stand up here and say 'Let's just get everybody together, let's get unified.' The sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect," she said at a rally on Sunday in Providence, Rhode Island, which also votes on March 4.
A photograph of Obama, dressed as a Somali elder with white headdress and matching robe, created a stir when it was posted on the popular Drudge Report web site on Monday and the accompanying article said it had been circulated by Clinton campaign staffers.
The Obama campaign was incensed.
The Drudge Report said the photo was taken in 2006 and shows the Democratic front-runner fitted as a Somali Elder, during his visit to Wajir, a rural area in northeastern Kenya. Obama has fought a whispering campaign from fringe elements that say erroneously he is a Muslim.
"On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe.
Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams said in a statement: "Enough."
"If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely," Williams said.
She called the flap "nothing more than an obvious and transparent attempt to distract from the serious issues confronting our country today and to attempt to create the very divisions they claim to decry."
(Editing by David Wiessler)
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Clinton: Obama 'change you can Xerox'
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox."
Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up."
The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter in the days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio — contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House.
The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.
In a university auditorium in the heart of Texas, the two rivals agreed that high-tech surveillance measures are preferable to construction of a fence to curtail illegal immigration.
They disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet "without preconditions," but added the U.S. agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation.
They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign.
Clinton said repeatedly that Obama's plan would leave 15 million Americans uncovered.
But he, in turn, accused the former first lady of mishandling the issue by working in secrecy when her husband was in the White House.
"I'm going to do things differently," he said. "We can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen."
Clinton was combative and complimentary by turns, and reflected on her well-known personal struggles in the debate's final moments.
"Everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said — a thinly veiled but clear reference to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment. But she added that nothing she had been through matched the everyday struggles of voters.
Then, offering unprompted praise to her rival, the one-time front-runner said, "No matter what happens in this contest, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama."
Both candidates were plainly popular with the debate audience. During one break someone in the crowd shouted "Si se puede," Spanish for Obama's trademark phrase, "Yes we can."
Clinton largely sidestepped a question about so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders who were not picked in primaries and caucuses. She said the issue would sort itself out, and "we'll have a unified Democratic party" for the fall campaign.
But Obama, who has won more primaries and caucuses said the contests must "count for something ... that the will of the voters ... is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be."
Clinton went into the debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival, seated inches away on the stage. "I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common," she said.
Barely pausing for breath, she went on to say there were differences.
First, she said she had seen a supporter of Obama interviewed on television recently, and unable to name a single accomplishment the Illinois senator had on his record.
"Words are important and words matter but actions speak louder than words," she said.
Obama agreed with that, then noted that Clinton lately had been urging voters to turn against him by saying, "let's get real."
"And the implication is that the people who've been voting for me or are involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," Obama said.
Clinton also raised Obama's use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
"If your candidacy is going to be about words then they should be your own words," she said. "...Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."
The debate audience booed.
Obama said the entire controversy was evidence of a "silly season" that the public finds dispiriting. Besides, he said of his speeches at one point, "I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good."
The two rivals sat next to one another in swivel chairs in a University of Texas auditorium for the 90-minute debate, one in a dwindling number of opportunities for the former first lady to chart a new course in the presidential race.
She has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses to Obama — including an overseas competition for support among Americans living aboard — and has fallen behind in the chase for the number of delegates needed to become the presidential nominee.
Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy. New polls show Texas a dead heat, and give Clinton a lead in Ohio, but far smaller than the one she held in recent weeks.
Rhode Island and Vermont also vote on March 4, but offer far fewer delegates and have drawn less attention.
The encounter was the 19th in an episodic series of debates and forums, a run that has ranged from highly civilized to hotly confrontational.
The last time the two met, in Los Angeles, they sat side by side and disagreed politely. But in an earlier encounter last month, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each accused the other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain in a highly personal, finger-wagging showdown.
In The Associated Press' delegate count Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer's convention.
In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.
The debate was sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party.
AUSTIN, Texas - Hillary Rodham Clinton accused presidential rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism Thursday night, but drew boos from a Democratic debate audience when she ridiculed him as the candidate of "change you can Xerox."
Obama dismissed the charge out of hand, then turned the jeers to applause when he countered, "What we shouldn't be spending time doing is tearing each other down. We should be spending time lifting the country up."
The exchange marked an unusually pointed moment in an otherwise civil encounter in the days before March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio — contests that even some of Clinton's supporters say she must win to sustain her campaign for the White House.
The former first lady has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses, and trails her rival in convention delegates. Obama has won a pair of big union endorsements in the past two days.
In a university auditorium in the heart of Texas, the two rivals agreed that high-tech surveillance measures are preferable to construction of a fence to curtail illegal immigration.
They disagreed on the proper response to a change in government in Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation. Clinton said she would refuse to sit down with incoming President Raul Castro until he implements political and economic reforms. Obama said he would meet "without preconditions," but added the U.S. agenda for such a session would include human rights in the Communist island nation.
They also sparred frequently about health care, a core issue of the campaign.
Clinton said repeatedly that Obama's plan would leave 15 million Americans uncovered.
But he, in turn, accused the former first lady of mishandling the issue by working in secrecy when her husband was in the White House.
"I'm going to do things differently," he said. "We can have great plans, but if we don't change how the politics is working in Washington, then neither of our plans are going to happen."
Clinton was combative and complimentary by turns, and reflected on her well-known personal struggles in the debate's final moments.
"Everyone here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said — a thinly veiled but clear reference to her husband's affair with Monica Lewinsky and subsequent impeachment. But she added that nothing she had been through matched the everyday struggles of voters.
Then, offering unprompted praise to her rival, the one-time front-runner said, "No matter what happens in this contest, I am honored to be here with Barack Obama."
Both candidates were plainly popular with the debate audience. During one break someone in the crowd shouted "Si se puede," Spanish for Obama's trademark phrase, "Yes we can."
Clinton largely sidestepped a question about so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders who were not picked in primaries and caucuses. She said the issue would sort itself out, and "we'll have a unified Democratic party" for the fall campaign.
But Obama, who has won more primaries and caucuses said the contests must "count for something ... that the will of the voters ... is what ultimately will determine who our next nominee is going to be."
Clinton went into the debate needing a change in the course of the campaign, and waited patiently for an opening to try to diminish her rival, seated inches away on the stage. "I think you can tell from the first 45 minutes Senator Obama and I have a lot in common," she said.
Barely pausing for breath, she went on to say there were differences.
First, she said she had seen a supporter of Obama interviewed on television recently, and unable to name a single accomplishment the Illinois senator had on his record.
"Words are important and words matter but actions speak louder than words," she said.
Obama agreed with that, then noted that Clinton lately had been urging voters to turn against him by saying, "let's get real."
"And the implication is that the people who've been voting for me or are involved in my campaign are somehow delusional," Obama said.
Clinton also raised Obama's use in his campaign speeches of words first uttered by his friend, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
"If your candidacy is going to be about words then they should be your own words," she said. "...Lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in, it's change you can Xerox."
The debate audience booed.
Obama said the entire controversy was evidence of a "silly season" that the public finds dispiriting. Besides, he said of his speeches at one point, "I've got to admit, some of them are pretty good."
The two rivals sat next to one another in swivel chairs in a University of Texas auditorium for the 90-minute debate, one in a dwindling number of opportunities for the former first lady to chart a new course in the presidential race.
She has lost 11 straight primaries and caucuses to Obama — including an overseas competition for support among Americans living aboard — and has fallen behind in the chase for the number of delegates needed to become the presidential nominee.
Obama's strong showing has made him the man to beat in a historic struggle between a black man and a white woman, and even former President Bill Clinton has said his wife must win both Ohio and Texas early next month to preserve her candidacy. New polls show Texas a dead heat, and give Clinton a lead in Ohio, but far smaller than the one she held in recent weeks.
Rhode Island and Vermont also vote on March 4, but offer far fewer delegates and have drawn less attention.
The encounter was the 19th in an episodic series of debates and forums, a run that has ranged from highly civilized to hotly confrontational.
The last time the two met, in Los Angeles, they sat side by side and disagreed politely. But in an earlier encounter last month, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., each accused the other of repeatedly and deliberately distorting the truth for political gain in a highly personal, finger-wagging showdown.
In The Associated Press' delegate count Thursday, Obama had 1,358.5 to 1,264 for Clinton. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer's convention.
In a further sign of his growing strength, Obama won the endorsement during the day of the Change to Win labor federation, which claims 6 million members. The Teamsters union announced its support for Obama on Wednesday.
The debate was sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas Democratic Party.
Obama wins global primary
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer
33 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama won the Democrats Abroad global primary in results announced Thursday, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in other countries voted by Internet, mail and in person, according to results released by the Democrats Abroad, an organization sanctioned by the national party.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has not won a nominating contest since Super Tuesday, more than two weeks ago.
More than 20,000 U.S. citizens living abroad voted in the primary, which ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. Obama won about 65 percent of the vote, according to the results released Thursday.
Voters living in 164 countries cast votes online, while expatriates voted in person in more than 30 countries, at hotels in Australia and Costa Rica, at a pub in Ireland and at a Starbucks in Thailand. The results took about a week to tabulate as local committees around the globe gathered ballots.
"This really gives Americans an opportunity to participate," said Christine Schon Marques, the international chair of Democrats Abroad.
There is no comparable primary among Republicans, though the GOP has several contests this weekend in U.S. territories, including party caucuses in Puerto Rico Sunday.
The Democrats Abroad controls seven pledged delegates at the party's national convention this summer. However, the group's system of dividing the delegates is unique, and could create an anomaly in which Obama and Clinton end up with fractions of delegates.
The party will send 14 pledged delegates to the convention, each with a half vote. The primary was used to determine nine people, or the equivalent of 4.5 delegates. Obama won 2.5 and Clinton won two, according to Schon Marques.
The Democrats Abroad will hold a global convention in Vancouver, Canada, in April to select the other five people who will attend the convention. They will represent the remaining 2.5 votes.
The system creates the possibility that Obama and Clinton could each end up with an extra half vote at the convention, Schon Marques said.
Democratic parties in U.S. territories use similar systems, in which they send twice the number of delegates, giving them each a half vote. But their systems are designed to ensure that that candidates do not end up with fractions of delegates.
Heading into the Democrats Abroad primary, Obama led with 1,351 delegates, and Clinton had 1,262.
33 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama won the Democrats Abroad global primary in results announced Thursday, giving him 11 straight victories in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The Illinois senator won the primary in which Democrats living in other countries voted by Internet, mail and in person, according to results released by the Democrats Abroad, an organization sanctioned by the national party.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has not won a nominating contest since Super Tuesday, more than two weeks ago.
More than 20,000 U.S. citizens living abroad voted in the primary, which ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 12. Obama won about 65 percent of the vote, according to the results released Thursday.
Voters living in 164 countries cast votes online, while expatriates voted in person in more than 30 countries, at hotels in Australia and Costa Rica, at a pub in Ireland and at a Starbucks in Thailand. The results took about a week to tabulate as local committees around the globe gathered ballots.
"This really gives Americans an opportunity to participate," said Christine Schon Marques, the international chair of Democrats Abroad.
There is no comparable primary among Republicans, though the GOP has several contests this weekend in U.S. territories, including party caucuses in Puerto Rico Sunday.
The Democrats Abroad controls seven pledged delegates at the party's national convention this summer. However, the group's system of dividing the delegates is unique, and could create an anomaly in which Obama and Clinton end up with fractions of delegates.
The party will send 14 pledged delegates to the convention, each with a half vote. The primary was used to determine nine people, or the equivalent of 4.5 delegates. Obama won 2.5 and Clinton won two, according to Schon Marques.
The Democrats Abroad will hold a global convention in Vancouver, Canada, in April to select the other five people who will attend the convention. They will represent the remaining 2.5 votes.
The system creates the possibility that Obama and Clinton could each end up with an extra half vote at the convention, Schon Marques said.
Democratic parties in U.S. territories use similar systems, in which they send twice the number of delegates, giving them each a half vote. But their systems are designed to ensure that that candidates do not end up with fractions of delegates.
Heading into the Democrats Abroad primary, Obama led with 1,351 delegates, and Clinton had 1,262.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Obama wins big in Wisconsin and Hawaii
By David Lightman and Margaret Talev McClatchy Newspapers
MILWAUKEE — Barack Obama's bandwagon kept rolling Tuesday as he swept to a big Wisconsin primary win over Hillary Clinton, a victory that gives him an important boost as the Democrats head for what may be a final showdown in Ohio and Texas in two weeks.
In the Republican contest, Arizona Sen. John McCain easily beat former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Obama claimed his victory at a rally in Houston , home of NASA, telling a jubilant audience: " Houston, I think we've achieved lift-off here."
Clinton, speaking in Youngstown , Ohio , didn't acknowledge her latest defeat or congratulate Obama. Instead she was highly critical of her rival, saying the election was about "picking a president who relies not just on words, but on work, hard work, to get America back to work."
Obama also won Hawaii’s caucus, making it 10 straight Democratic wins since Feb. 5. In Wisconsin, he rolled up solid majorities among whites, males and young voters — and by splitting the votes of women and the non-college-educated with Clinton, who looks to those last two groups as her base.
Voters were largely unmoved by Clinton's latest efforts to paint herself as the aggrieved worker's friend and to attack Obama for echoing someone else's speech lines. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Obama had 58 percent of the vote to Clinton 's 41 percent.
In Hawaii , where he spent part of his childhood, Obama took 76 percent of the vote to Clinton ’s 24 percent, with all precincts reporting.
With 94 convention delegates at stake in the two states, Obama increased his lead over Clinton. The latest Associated Press count gave him 1,303 delegates to Clinton ’s 1,233. A total of 2,025 are needed to nominate.
McCain declared victory moments after the polls closed. He had no harsh words for Huckabee, whom he beat 55 to 37 percent in Wisconsin, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. But he wasted no time in taking a veiled shot at the Democrat who's now inescapably the front-runner to oppose him in the fall:
"I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure that Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change," McCain said. Obama's crusade for change is the signature issue of his campaign.
"Will the next president have the experience, the judgment experience informs and the strength of purpose to respond to each of these developments in ways that strengthen our security and advance the global progress of our ideals?" McCain asked. "Or will we risk the confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate who once suggested invading our ally, Pakistan, and sitting down without preconditions or clear purpose with enemies who support terrorists and are intent on destabilizing the world by acquiring nuclear weapons?"
McCain should pick up the 56 delegates that were available in Wisconsin and Washington state. Washington 's Tuesday primary was another part of a complex system for picking delegates; the state's GOP held a caucus on Feb. 9, which McCain narrowly won. With 57 percent of the Tuesday Washington vote reporting, McCain led Huckabee, 49 to 22 percent.
He began the day with a total of 908 delegates to Huckabee's 245 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul's 14, meaning McCain can't immediately reach the 1,191 total needed to nominate. He can go over the top on March 4, when 265 delegates will be at stake.
Among Democrats, Obama won a race that had been considered close almost to the end and was viewed as a preview of the crucial March 4 contest in Ohio, which has seen its working classes battered by job losses and foreign competition. Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island voters also go to the polls that day, when 370 delegates are up for grabs. Clinton 's camp has said that Texas and Ohio are must-win states.
Clinton fashioned herself in Wisconsin as a sensitive populist, but she also showed that she's ready to play rough. She tore into Obama in TV ads for refusing to debate, and her staff kept telling the media that Obama deserved scorn for using lines in a speech that were first used by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.
But little of this seemed to click with the state's voters.
Exit polls showed Obama winning big among not only his usual supporters — he won nearly three-quarters of the 18-to-29-year-old vote and nine of every 10 votes from African Americans_ but also among whites and in suburban and rural areas. And he got a 2-to-1 advantage from independents, who made up about 28 percent of the Wisconsin vote.
Obama voters routinely said they liked Clinton but were alienated by her negative tone and pleased by Obama's call for change.
"I love both candidates, but I was looking for something different," said LaNell Gill, a Milwaukee teacher.
Arlene Czarnezki, a Milwaukee retiree, said she "really has had a hard time making up my mind," but found that she liked Obama's "energy and ideas."
Linda Morris, an unemployed Milwaukee worker, found that while "I voted for Bill Clinton twice, we need new blood."
Obama was in Texas for his election-night celebration, offering an estimated 20,000 supporters at Houston 's Toyota Center a lengthy speech detailing his views — and reminding supporters that he's still far from being the nominee.
"The change we seek is still months and miles away," he said.
The audience was heavily African-American, shouting, "Yes, we can!" as they waited for Obama and "Si se puede," the Spanish equivalent.
Jose Santoyo, a patient-care assistant munching on chili cheese fries from a concession stand, said he's not political and was a little surprised at himself for attending. He was at first for Clinton , but now, he said, "I'm probably 70 percent for Obama. I'm hearing good things about him."
Clinton spent election night in Youngstown, a battered manufacturing city in eastern Ohio that Obama visited Monday. She said she's been a "doer" for 35 years who can help people out of their economic blues.
"Right now, too many people are struggling," she said. "Working the day shift, the night shift, trying to get by without health care, just one paycheck away from losing their homes. They cannot afford four more years of a president who just doesn't see or hear them." (Lightman reported from Wisconsin, Talev from Houston. William Douglas contributed.)
McClatchy Newspapers 2008
Teamsters union to endorse Barack Obama
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, AP Labor Writer
WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama is slated to pick up the endorsement of the powerful Teamsters, the second major union endorsement for the Democratic front-runner in a week, union officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Obama will meet with Teamster President James P. Hoffa in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. The endorsement is expected to come soon thereafter, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the planned formal announcement.
The Teamsters represent 1.4 million members.
Union support will be key in the Democratic primaries in the next few weeks, particularly in Ohio on March 4 and Pennsylvania on April 22. Ohio and Pennsylvania have some of the nation's largest number of union workers, with more than 15 percent of the workforce unionized in Pennsylvania and just over 14 percent in Ohio.
The endorsement from the Teamsters is Obama's third from organized labor in a week. The 1.9-million member Service Employees International Union endorsed the Illinois senator last Friday, and the smaller United Food and Commercial Workers endorsed him last Thursday.
Rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton by far has a larger number of unions in her corner with 12 endorsements from unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO — the nation's largest labor federation — and the United Farm Workers from the rival Change To Win labor federation.
But Obama also has two AFL-CIO unions in his corner in the Transport Workers Union and the National Weather Service Employees Organization. And with a Teamsters endorsement, he will have four Change To Win unions in his corner: the Teamsters, SEIU, the United Food and Commercial Workers and UNITE HERE, who gave the Illinois senator his first national endorsement from a union.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Obama Voters Impact McCain, Too
By MICHAEL DUFFY Wed Feb 13, 2:35 PM ET
Backed by a more diverse coalition of voters than he has previously attracted, Barack Obama swept to impressive victories in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia Tuesday night, jumping to a lead in the overall delegate tally for the first time since Iowa and making the odds of a comeback by Hillary Clinton, while hardly impossible, decidedly longer.
While Obama rung up 30-point margins over Clinton, Republican John McCain swept the Potomac primaries with narrower wins over Mike Huckabee, a reminder that the Republican base remains unsettled over the prospect of the party's presumptive nominee.
What made the night historic was not so much the margins of Obama's wins - though those were impressive - but the scope and depth of his winning coalition. According to exit poll data, Obama prevailed in Virginia among while males, independents and young voters. In Maryland, he bested Clinton among rural voters, union households and catholic voters. Everywhere, as expected, he won huge margins of African American voters who turned out to vote in numbers far in excess of their proportion of the population. In Maryland, African Americans are 29 of the population but formed 37 of the electorate, while in Virginia the numbers are 20 and 29.
The results also show the ways in which Obama is exerting a huge gravitational pull on both races. Obama is drawing so many moderates and independents to the Democratic race from what would normally be the ranks of the Republican electorate that 1) he's rolling up large margins and stitching together a broader coalition, and 2) he's making the Republican electorate comparatively smaller, and more conservative. Exit polls noted that one half of Virginia's voters were evangelicals; one third were self-described as "very conservative" while only a quarter were independents. As a result, Mike Huckabee was able to take 41% of the state's Republican vote.
Turnout, meanwhile, was up everywhere, just as it has been all along in the 2008 sweepstakes. More than 850,000 Virginians voted in that state's Democratic primary - more than twice the number that voted in the state's 2004 contest.
Before the evening was out, Obama was leading Clinton in pledged delegates for the first time since Iowa and with a few weeks to go before she is likely to place ahead of him in a single primary. While Obama is not impossible to catch, Clinton must rack up outsized victories in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania to do it - states where the margins of victory are more likely to be in single digits, though for whom is anyone's guess at this stage.
But it helps explain why Clinton had decamped to El Paso, Texas before all the results were in. She has to shore up what she hopes will be a lone star-sized firewall before the state's March 4 primary. Obama, meanwhile, could be found in Wisconsin, where the next big contest, and his next big opportunity, comes Feb. 19.
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