Obama Expands Lead in Polls But Clinton Believes the Voters Don’t Count

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For the first time Obama has a statistically significant lead in the Gallup Tracking Poll, leading 49% to 42% with a three point margin of error. In the Rasmussen Tracking Poll, Obama leads 47% to 43%. In the head to head comparisons to John McCain, Obama leads John McCain 46% to 43% while McCain leads Clinton 49% to 43%.

The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Obama. After noting some of the areas where their positions are the same (and ignoring those where they differ), the Chronicle says:

However, there is a decisive difference. Obama vows to reach out to independents and Republicans with a message of inclusion and cooperation. He offers a historic opportunity to elevate national political dialogue to a higher ground. Those who insist on vitriol and obstructionism would be marginalized.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has also endorsed Obama:

Our recommendation in Wisconsin’s primary on Tuesday for the Democratic nomination is Barack Obama. That’s our recommendation because change and experience are crucial to moving this country forward after what will be eight years of an administration careening from mistake to catastrophe to disaster and back again.

The Illinois senator is best-equipped to deliver that change, and his relatively shorter time in Washington is more asset than handicap.

The Obama campaign has been derisively and incorrectly described as more rock tour than political campaign and his supporters as more starry-eyed groupies than thoughtful voters.

If detractors in either party want to continue characterizing the Obama campaign this way, they will have seriously underestimated both the electorate’s hunger for meaningful change in how the nation is governed and the candidate himself.

In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board on Wednesday, the first-term senator proved himself adept at detail and vision. They are not mutually exclusive.

Newspaper endorsements do not mean very much. Ideally the nomination would be decided by the voters, but the Clinton campaign does not believe the voters mean very much either. The campaign is repeating their intention to take this all the way to the convention and try to get a majority of votes on the credentials committee if they don’t have a majority of votes for the nomination. Frequently I argue that the right wing is engaging in distortions and hyperbole in their attacks on Democrats, but this time I agree with Gaius whose headline says: Clinton Campaign: Screw Democracy. If we have a McCain versus Clinton general election under these circumstances, we may also both agree on voting for John McCain.
While Clinton has no qualms about discussing her intent to steal the nomination, making it highly unlikely I will ever vote for her, Nancy Pelosi insists that Michigan and Florida should not settle the nomination. Considering Obama’s current lead, if the party stands behind her in keeping Clinton from stealing the nomination, Obama should be the winner.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    David Drissel says:

    Let’s hope that the Florida and Michigan delegates are indeed not counted at the convention. It would be blatantly unfair to count those delegates now, especially since Obama followed DNC rules and acted in good faith when he did not campaign in those two states. Besides, the voters of those states did not have a real choice in their respective elections, with Obama’s name not even on the ballot in Michigan. To change the rules in the middle of the game would be dishonest and likely generate a major party schism. The Clinton Machine’s Machiavellian tactics never cease to amaze me, as they seem to be pushing for that very scenario. The only fair compromise would be to hold new caucuses in those two states prior to the convention.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    Not only was Obama not on the ballot, but write in votes for him were not counted in Michigan.

    Holding a new vote would be best but I doubt its going to happen, at least in Michigan. The word I hear is that the chairman of the state party is very strongly pro Clinton and has been shouting down anyone who has protested the situation.

    If there isn’t a new vote, the best alternative might be to let Florida and Michigan have a delegation at the convention (to avoid the appearance of voters in these states of being ignored) but give an equal number of delegates to both Obama and Clinton. That way the delegations would have no bearing on the outcome of the nomination battle.

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