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Candidates Look to the Potomac Following Weekend Wins, Losses
Monday, February 11, 2008
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama won the Maine caucuses to sweep all five weekend
Democratic contests, gaining new momentum and further narrowing rival
Hillary Rodham Clinton's all-important delegate lead in their epic and tight
battle for the party's presidential nomination. Even before the loss in
Maine on Sunday, Clinton, stung by defeats a day earlier in Nebraska,
Washington state, Louisiana and the U.S. Virgin Islands, replaced her
campaign manager in a shake-up of a presidential campaign struggling to
overcome Obama's financial and political rally that came on the back of his
impressive showing in last week's "Super Tuesday" series of Democratic
contests in 22 states.
The campaign reshuffle - in which Patti Solis Doyle was replaced by longtime
Clinton aide Maggie Williams - came ahead of the so-called Potomac
primaries - nomination races in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. that
Clinton needs to widen her delegate lead in a deadlocked race that could
last until the party's national convention in August. The two states and the
U.S. capital all have sizable number of black Democratic voters, a
constituency that has aided Obama in earlier contests.
In the latest overall totals in The Associated Press count, Clinton had
1,136 delegates to 1,108 for Obama. The totals include so-called
superdelegates, which are party leaders not chosen at primaries or caucuses,
free to change their minds. A total of 2,025 delegates is required to win
the nomination.
In Maine, with 99 percent of the participating precincts reporting, Obama
led with 59 percent of the vote, to 40 percent for Clinton. Obama won 15 of
Maine's delegates to the national convention and Clinton won nine.
Obama, who seeks to be America's first black president, was buoyant after
his weekend winning sweep. He even won a Grammy on Sunday for his audio
version of his book "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The
American Dream," beating former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter in
the best spoken word album category.
"I have the ability to bring people together," he said. Because of that, he
said, "I think I can beat John McCain more effectively," in a reference that
highlighted a shift in both his and Clinton's campaign aimed at addressing
the challenge the presumptive Republican nominee would pose in the November
general elections.
Earlier Sunday, Obama, campaigning in Virginia said Clinton is "a capable
person" and "vast improvement" over Republican President George W. Bush, but
added that the public sees the New York senator as part of a divisive
political era when the government was gridlocked and Republicans won control
of Congress.
Clinton was not the only presidential candidate nursing weekend losses.
McCain took the weekend off from campaigning despite embarrassing, albeit
academic, losses against preacher-turned-politician Mike Huckabee in two
Republican races on Saturday. Huckabee, a favorite of evangelical
Christians, beat McCain in Kansas and Louisiana, highlighting the difficulty
the veteran Arizona senator faces in convincing the party's core
conservative and Christian blocs that he is, indeed, one of them. McCain,
however, remained far ahead of Huckabee in the delegate count, and retained
his virtually assured nomination that came on the back of rival Mitt Romney's
decision to suspend his campaign.
McCain has 719 delegates out of a total 1,191 needed to secure the
Republican nomination at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Huckabee had 234 delegates.
Since his string of Super Tuesday wins, McCain has concentrated on wooing
conservatives who view him as a political maverick on key issues like
immigration and tax cuts. The former Vietnam prisoner-of-war and decorated
Navy pilot secured a boost Sunday when Bush referred to him in a taped
interview as a "true conservative." But the president also stressed that
McCain must do more to win over conservatives.
Bush's embrace could prove troublesome for McCain by reducing his appeal to
independent voters in the November election. Bush reached his lowest
approval rating in The Associated Press-Ipsos poll on Friday as only 30
percent said they like the job he is doing, including an all-time low in his
support by Republicans.
McCain narrowly won the Republican race in Washington state on Saturday, but
Huckabee's campaign on Sunday called the final results in that state
"dubious." His campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, accused the state's Republican
Party chairman of calling the race too early for McCain - leaving 1,500
votes uncounted when the two candidates were just 242 votes apart. "That is
an outrage," Rollins said.
The campaign said it would explore its legal options.
Washington's state Republican Party chairman, Luke Esser, said Sunday
evening that McCain's lead had narrowed, but only slightly, with just more
than 93 percent of results in.
"I'm even more confident now," Esser said. "These latest batch of results
confirms what I said last night. It's a close race, but it's clear Sen.
McCain will win the Washington state precinct caucuses."
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, has vowed to stay in the race until a
candidate earns the delegates needed to win the nomination. He was dismissed
as "total nonsense" suggestions that he quit the race so the party could
maintain its resources for the November election.
McCain appeared likely to rebound on Tuesday in the next Republican
contests. The Mason-Dixon polls showed the Arizona senator leading Huckabee
by nearly 30 percentage point margins in both Virginia and Maryland. The
Republicans also compete in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
In the Democratic race, Obama appeared poised to sweep Tuesday's trio of
races.
Former President Bill Clinton, who visited black churches in Maryland and
Washington, D.C. in a bid to cut into Obama's huge lead among black voters,
said that having to choose between his wife and Obama for the Democratic
nomination is a God-given "dilemma."
New polls released Sunday showed Obama leading Clinton by 16 percentage
points in Virginia and 18 percentage points in Maryland. The polls conducted
Feb. 7-8 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. had a margin of error of
plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The remaining Democratic calendar for February does not look favorable for
Clinton. But she is looking for a big rebound in the high-stakes March 4
primaries in Texas and Ohio.
Clinton's campaign acknowledged that the former first lady made a private
visit to North Carolina this week to seek the endorsement of former rival
John Edwards, who dropped out of the race last month. Her rival Barack Obama
was planning his own meeting Monday with Edwards, who confidants said was
torn over which candidate to back.
Candidates Look to the Potomac Following Weekend Wins, Losses
Monday, February 11, 2008
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama won the Maine caucuses to sweep all five weekend
Democratic contests, gaining new momentum and further narrowing rival
Hillary Rodham Clinton's all-important delegate lead in their epic and tight
battle for the party's presidential nomination. Even before the loss in
Maine on Sunday, Clinton, stung by defeats a day earlier in Nebraska,
Washington state, Louisiana and the U.S. Virgin Islands, replaced her
campaign manager in a shake-up of a presidential campaign struggling to
overcome Obama's financial and political rally that came on the back of his
impressive showing in last week's "Super Tuesday" series of Democratic
contests in 22 states.
The campaign reshuffle - in which Patti Solis Doyle was replaced by longtime
Clinton aide Maggie Williams - came ahead of the so-called Potomac
primaries - nomination races in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. that
Clinton needs to widen her delegate lead in a deadlocked race that could
last until the party's national convention in August. The two states and the
U.S. capital all have sizable number of black Democratic voters, a
constituency that has aided Obama in earlier contests.
In the latest overall totals in The Associated Press count, Clinton had
1,136 delegates to 1,108 for Obama. The totals include so-called
superdelegates, which are party leaders not chosen at primaries or caucuses,
free to change their minds. A total of 2,025 delegates is required to win
the nomination.
In Maine, with 99 percent of the participating precincts reporting, Obama
led with 59 percent of the vote, to 40 percent for Clinton. Obama won 15 of
Maine's delegates to the national convention and Clinton won nine.
Obama, who seeks to be America's first black president, was buoyant after
his weekend winning sweep. He even won a Grammy on Sunday for his audio
version of his book "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts On Reclaiming The
American Dream," beating former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter in
the best spoken word album category.
"I have the ability to bring people together," he said. Because of that, he
said, "I think I can beat John McCain more effectively," in a reference that
highlighted a shift in both his and Clinton's campaign aimed at addressing
the challenge the presumptive Republican nominee would pose in the November
general elections.
Earlier Sunday, Obama, campaigning in Virginia said Clinton is "a capable
person" and "vast improvement" over Republican President George W. Bush, but
added that the public sees the New York senator as part of a divisive
political era when the government was gridlocked and Republicans won control
of Congress.
Clinton was not the only presidential candidate nursing weekend losses.
McCain took the weekend off from campaigning despite embarrassing, albeit
academic, losses against preacher-turned-politician Mike Huckabee in two
Republican races on Saturday. Huckabee, a favorite of evangelical
Christians, beat McCain in Kansas and Louisiana, highlighting the difficulty
the veteran Arizona senator faces in convincing the party's core
conservative and Christian blocs that he is, indeed, one of them. McCain,
however, remained far ahead of Huckabee in the delegate count, and retained
his virtually assured nomination that came on the back of rival Mitt Romney's
decision to suspend his campaign.
McCain has 719 delegates out of a total 1,191 needed to secure the
Republican nomination at the party's convention in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Huckabee had 234 delegates.
Since his string of Super Tuesday wins, McCain has concentrated on wooing
conservatives who view him as a political maverick on key issues like
immigration and tax cuts. The former Vietnam prisoner-of-war and decorated
Navy pilot secured a boost Sunday when Bush referred to him in a taped
interview as a "true conservative." But the president also stressed that
McCain must do more to win over conservatives.
Bush's embrace could prove troublesome for McCain by reducing his appeal to
independent voters in the November election. Bush reached his lowest
approval rating in The Associated Press-Ipsos poll on Friday as only 30
percent said they like the job he is doing, including an all-time low in his
support by Republicans.
McCain narrowly won the Republican race in Washington state on Saturday, but
Huckabee's campaign on Sunday called the final results in that state
"dubious." His campaign chairman, Ed Rollins, accused the state's Republican
Party chairman of calling the race too early for McCain - leaving 1,500
votes uncounted when the two candidates were just 242 votes apart. "That is
an outrage," Rollins said.
The campaign said it would explore its legal options.
Washington's state Republican Party chairman, Luke Esser, said Sunday
evening that McCain's lead had narrowed, but only slightly, with just more
than 93 percent of results in.
"I'm even more confident now," Esser said. "These latest batch of results
confirms what I said last night. It's a close race, but it's clear Sen.
McCain will win the Washington state precinct caucuses."
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, has vowed to stay in the race until a
candidate earns the delegates needed to win the nomination. He was dismissed
as "total nonsense" suggestions that he quit the race so the party could
maintain its resources for the November election.
McCain appeared likely to rebound on Tuesday in the next Republican
contests. The Mason-Dixon polls showed the Arizona senator leading Huckabee
by nearly 30 percentage point margins in both Virginia and Maryland. The
Republicans also compete in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
In the Democratic race, Obama appeared poised to sweep Tuesday's trio of
races.
Former President Bill Clinton, who visited black churches in Maryland and
Washington, D.C. in a bid to cut into Obama's huge lead among black voters,
said that having to choose between his wife and Obama for the Democratic
nomination is a God-given "dilemma."
New polls released Sunday showed Obama leading Clinton by 16 percentage
points in Virginia and 18 percentage points in Maryland. The polls conducted
Feb. 7-8 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. had a margin of error of
plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The remaining Democratic calendar for February does not look favorable for
Clinton. But she is looking for a big rebound in the high-stakes March 4
primaries in Texas and Ohio.
Clinton's campaign acknowledged that the former first lady made a private
visit to North Carolina this week to seek the endorsement of former rival
John Edwards, who dropped out of the race last month. Her rival Barack Obama
was planning his own meeting Monday with Edwards, who confidants said was
torn over which candidate to back.