Obama claims lead in delegate count
By Casey RossWednesday, February 6, 2008 -
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Sen. Barack Obama's campaign said today it has surged to a 28-delegate lead following the crucial Super Tuesday contests, with top campaign staffers declaring that the Illinois senator fought off Hillary Clinton's efforts to emerge as a strong front-runner last night.
"Through the first 26 states, we have won more states, won more delegates, won more total votes than Sen. Clinton," Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said this morning. "It's clear the (Clinton's) strategy was predicated on trying to secure the Democratic nomination last night, and on that score they failed miserably."
Plouffe said Obama has emerged with a delegate lead of 910 to Clinton's 882, a tally that foretells an extremely close battle that will only intensify in the crucial days ahead. Clinton aides could not immediately be reached for their take on the numbers.
Tallies last night showed Clinton with a narrow lead in the delegate count. According to an Associated Press count this morning, Clinton has 845 delegates to Obama's 765. The AP reported Obama yesterday won 546 delegates to Clinton's 542, with some returns yet to come in.
The New York senator's supporters were buoyed by decisive victories last night in delegate-rich contests in California, Massachusetts and New Jersey - all states that were seen as critical battlegrounds in Super Tuesday voting.
Last night, Clinton told supporters to expect a long fight, but that she expects to prevail: "You're ready for a president who brings your voice, your values and your dreams to the White House," she said. "Tonight you voted in record numbers, not just to remake history, but to remake America."
In the Bay State, Clinton won the 93 delegate contest 57-36 despite endorsements for Obama from Gov. Deval Patrick and U.S. Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, all of whom campaigned aggressively in the days leading up to the primary. Obama even made a last-minute Hub campaign stop with his high-profile backers on the eve of the primary.
Obama's campaign aides said, however, that they never expected to win California or Massachusetts, and that their strategy was always to compete by winning enough delegates to stem any major losses.
"At one point, we thought (Clinton) was on her way to winning 30 additional delegates in Massachusetts and we were able to cut that down," Plouffe said. Massachusetts awards delegates proportionally to the top vote-getters.
The Democratic race now heads to Washington, Nebraska, Maine and Virginia, states where Obama staffers say Clinton has campaigned hard over the past several months. "These are going to be tough contests, but we like our chances to add to our delegate leads," Plouffe said.
On the horizon, the major states that could swing the nomination battle are Wisconsin, Ohio and Texas. Obama is favored in Wisconsin and Clinton is favored in Ohio and Texas. However, the Lone Star state has an extremely arcane system of apportioning delegates, so both campaigns say the contest will be difficult for either side to win decisively.
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Comment by Allan J. Lichtman
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