"Potomac Primary" Voters Make Their Picks
Obama, McCain Both Hope To Expand Delegate Leads In Md., Va., D.C. Primaries
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'Potomac' Primaries Today
Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. hold their primaries today, where Sen. Barack Obama is expected to continue his sweep and Mike Huckabee fighting to the end. Joel Brown reports.
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Potomac Primary Favors Obama
Sen. Barack Obama is favored to win primaries in Md., Va. and Washington D.C. Sen. Hillary Clinton must convince voters she's still a contender for those states. Bob Schieffer speaks with Harry Smith.
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Can Mike Huckabee Win?
Mike Huckabee is not bowing out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination even though John McCain has an overwhelming lead in the delegate count. Randall Pinkston reports.
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Kristina Daugirclas, of Washington, holds her son Sebastian Bagley, 6 weeks, in a wrap while being passed a ballot by Ella Black, to cast her vote in the District of Columbia's primary at Oyster Elementary School in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008. (AP)
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Potomac Primaries
Voters in Maryland, Virginia, D.C. head to the polls.
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Scenes From The Road
Watch exclusive video from CBS News reporters traveling with the candidates.
The "Potomac Primary" also put attention on a part of the country not used to playing a crucial role in the presidential nominating process.
"At least we feel like we have a say in it this time," said Michael Dowling, a 57-year-old Annapolis resident who voted early Tuesday and couldn't recall the last time he felt the Maryland primary had a role in choosing the nominee.
Early turnout in Virginia was reported high and city officials in the District of Columbia were hoping that a swath of new registered voters would show up at the polls. Maryland election officials were also projecting a strong turnout, particularly in the Democratic race.
With 168 delegates at stake in the Democratic contests, Obama hoped to expand the lead in the delegate count he won after convincing weekend victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state, the Virgin Islands and Maine.
The contests also come days after Clinton announced she was replacing her campaign manager. Aides to the former first lady concede she is in the midst of a difficult period in which she could lose 10 straight contests. She is hoping to rebound on March 4, in primaries in Ohio and Texas, states where both candidates have already begun television advertising.
A source close to the campaign is downplaying expectations, telling CBS News' Fernando Suarez that “we will lose all three (contests) today, probably by wide margins.”
“We are still actively working them because we feel like there are opportunities to pick up delegates," the source said, pointing out that since delegates are allocated proportionally, she can still pick up delegates even if she loses statewide.
"There are several districts in Virginia, for example, that we have targeted because they have odd number delegates and we think we have some opportunities to pick up the one," the source said. "So, while we expect to lose we’re focused on the delegate math.” (Read more in the From The Road blog.)
According to delegate estimates compiled by CBS News Obama has 1,143 delegates while Clinton has 1,132. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination. (View the Democratic delegate scorecard.)
Obama has campaigned before huge crowds in recent days, and far outspent his rival on television advertising in the states participating in the regional primary in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
He began airing commercials in the region more than a week ago, and spent an estimated $1.4 million. Clinton began hers last Friday, at a cost estimated at $210,000.
With Clinton facing a series of possible defeats, and Obama riding a wave of momentum, the two camps debated which contender is more likely to defeat McCain in the general election.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Obama with a narrow lead over the Arizona senator in a potential match-up, and Clinton running about even.
"We bring in voters who haven't given Democrats a chance" in the past, said Obama pollster Cornell Belcher, citing support from independents.
Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, countered that she holds appeal for women voters and Hispanics. "Hillary Clinton has a coalition of voters well-suited to winning the general election," he said.
While it expects victories in all three races tonight, the Obama campaign is already trying to keep expectations about any momentum gained in check, particularly regarding the Feb. 19 primary in Wisconsin.
“I don’t think that it’s about momentum, it’s about reality and the math,” Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said on a conference call with reporters, according to CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic. )(Read more in From The Road.)
Plouffe and Gov. Jim Doyle, D-Wisc., disputed the notion that Obama has momentum from his slew of recent wins. Doyle said voters in Wisconsin are evaluating both Clinton and Obama, and are not affected by previous outcomes.
Plouffe described Wisconsin has a battleground state, and said the campaign is aggressively organizing in the state. He believes that the timing of the primary will give Obama an edge in Wisconsin because he has more time to campaign.
Among Republicans, McCain, the faraway front-runner, hoped to rebound from a poor weekend showing. There were 116 GOP delegates at stake.
McCain lost caucuses in Kansas and a primary in Louisiana on Saturday to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, his last remaining major rival. When asked by "Up to the Minute" Anchor Meg Oliver if he planned to stay in the race to secure a cabinet position, Huckabee replied, "There's less likelyhood of me accepting a cabinet position than there would be of me becoming Hillary Clinton's running mate. So let me take that off the table. I told some group today - they thought I was hanging in so I could run for the Senate - and I told them I'd rather tattoo my body and go on a tour with Amy Winehouse than... run for the senate." McCain won caucuses in Washington state.
CBS News delegate estimates McCain has won 705 delegates so far, giving him nearly 60 percent of the 1,191 required to secure the nomination. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, is far behind, with 199 delegates. (View the Republican delegate scorecard).
It takes 1,191 delegates to clinch the nomination, and McCain appears to be on track to reach the target by late April.
"We have close to 800 delegates. Last time I checked, Governor Huckabee had very few, so I think I'm happy with the situation I'm in," McCain said Monday. "I'm quite pleased, recognizing that we have a lot of work to do."
In Annapolis, McCain chuckled at a question about why people persist in voting for Huckabee despite McCain's lock on the nomination.
"Because they like him," McCain said. "I never expected a unanimous vote, although I would certainly like to have that."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.




American Research Group shows Obama beating Clinton tomorrow AMONG WOMEN!!!
http://americanresearchgroup.com/
In Maryland, Barack Obama leads Hillary Clinton among men 57% to 34% (43% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Obama leads Clinton AMONG WOMEN 54% to 40%. ...
In Virginia, Obama leads Clinton among men 59% to 35% (45% of likely Democratic primary voters) and Obama leads Clinton AMONG WOMEN 53% to 40%.
LET''S TAKE THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BACK TO A HIGHER ROAD ...
Martin Edwin "Mick" Andersen
Why does Barack Obama lead all candidates in doners who still wear diapers?
Why does Barack Obama have a commanding lead in caucuses where there is little if anything democratic about them unless you think special interest activist are the ones who ought to choose our president?
Just exactly how are you going to make democrats and republicans in congress get along when they haven''''t done that in a hundred years?
How are you going to change washington without demanding public campaign financing and making it a crime for congressmen to accept gifts, favors, and cash from special interest?
Your promises require a willing suspension of common sense!
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Posted by spinster2
It is also in my view false to say that life in AMERICA today is solely determined by considerations of foreign policy, that the primacy of foreign policy governs today the whole of our domestic life. Certainly people can reach the point when foreign relations influence and determine completely its domestic life. But let no one say that such a CONDITION is from the first either natural or desirable. Rather the important thing is that people should CREATE the conditions for CHANGE in this state of affairs.
Answer
Hit-lers quote Jan 27 1932
Cheesy aka the **** & grifter''s little pimpress ...
fires off that she has to go back to her million dollar job on Wall and
additionally she''s tired, being nearly thirty and still having to act nice with these dorky college dweebs ! Rubba Dubba Bubba does red.
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Posted by alburbooks at 09:04 PM : Feb 11, 2008
Dude....You have successfully typed about 150 words and stuffed them together so they make no logical sense in any capacity.
Nice Work!
America wants TRUTH -
WISDOM, COMPASSION, AND COURAGE
America wants OBAMA
So be it that our YOUTH sees HOPE in TRUTH...
"LIVE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD."
"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed."
"A nation''s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people."
GO! OBAMA, TRUTH IS THE NATION, THE WORLD, THE HOPE!
Hillary has no wisdom, no compassion, and no moral courage, but she and Bill will do whatever it takes at all cost to get what they want. She is a very scary person!
%u201CLIVE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.%u201D
I am an Asian woman of 60. I have never been more excited for you young adults than today. GO! GO vote for you dream, vote for WISDOM, COMPASSION, AND COURAGE! VOTE FOR OBAMA!
Here I have a message for Hillary-the-dirty-trick: Do not do unto others what you do not want others to do unto you. What goes around comes around.
Why do you, Hillary constantly want to remind us that you and us women are women? Do you really think all women are two-year-old-don%u2019t-knows? Do you think all women are unhappy souls (like you) that they have to fight (for you)? What are you fighting for, Hillary? What is not enough of you, Hillary? One vote for the Iraq War isn''t enough? Why create more fight and war to divide our country? Honestly, to me, Hillary, you are so confused (or calculating) that on one hand you want all the women sympathy-votes, but on the other hand you are a real women hater who wants to destroy women by destroying their mind, heart, and soul.
God help those who help themselves. Demand (respect) not from others but from yourself. Hillary, be truthful! When there are not thousands, but hundreds of thousands that "hate" you, there must be a reason.
I have never come across one with wisdom, kindness, and courage being "hated", not to say by so many.
Our nation''s youth is smarter than you Hillary can imagine!
1. Surrender Iraq to the terrorists,
2. Raise taxes,
3. Keep the borders open to illegal immigrants (including possible terrorists),
4. Force people to use government-run healthcare, and 5. Prevent people under 35 from ever getting Social Security benefits (even though they pay for it)
McCain/Huckabee positions:
1. Win in Iraq,
2. Lower taxes,
3. Protect Americans by securing the border,
4. Allow people to choose their healthcare provider,
5. Guarantee that people who pay into Social Security will one day be eligible for benefits
There is a clear difference here. Vote with these facts in mind.
The Demopublican Party has kept the borders open for decades...have done nothing to keep the putative ''terrorists'' out and have allowed the arrest and incarceration of Border Patrolmen who tried to apprehend a dangerous narcotics trafficker.
All four candidates are the scum of the earth! They are backed by essentially the same trash. Vote for any of them you care to! What you will get is trash.
In November, if you want real change, vote for a THIRD PARTY candidate! Vote for peace, prosperity and a return to Constitutional government in America.
The Demopublicans have shown themselves to be the enemies of freedom, peace and prosperity...they export jobs and call it good for the nation! They have passed NAFTA and the WTO....They are fighting a war based on lies, lies, lies, and, did I mention lies! They are allowing the corruption and criminality of firms like ENRON, Halliburton, Merck and Bayer to go unpunished...The Demopublicans are the vilest of the vile...contemptible, lying, murdering thieving creatures who belong under the jail, not in Washington.
...The Demopublican candidates are an appalling bunch and deserve only scorn and contempt.
http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/
These people had the misfortune of serving with this animal, John McCain, as POWs.
Even Bush''s service is more honorable than that of this slinking, vile servant of the Oligarchy.
If you get a chance, see WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?
It shows how GM killed this successful vehicle, taking back all of the leased vehicles, dispite customer satisfaction, and destroying all of them!!
It was Ralph Nader who fought this kind of corporate irresponsibility--not the Demopublicans!
Under Demopublican misrule you have seen prices skyrocket--particularly in the energy sector--and seen the call for more public welfare for corporations like GM that are committing this nation to economic suicide. Firms like ENRON supported Bushies and Clintons...The Demopublicans made the energy rip-off of California consumers possible. Vote the Demopublican scum out!!
I don''t agree with you but thanks for voting!
"F**k you! I know more about this than anyone in the room." - John McCain to fellow GOP Senator John Cornyn on the Senate floor on May 18 2007 when Cornyn had the audacity to oppose McCain''s bill granting amnesty to illegal immigrants.
Thank you for a spot on rebuttal. Regardless of your beliefs, both parties are spending this country into the ground by giving seas of red ink (i.e. worthless debt money to all but the foreign banks) to defense and business, ignoring the people and their civic charge.
What''s amazing is that only about 10-15% of America seems to realize this, while the rest of our citizens operating on the limbic system only march in lockstep day after day...
Unlike those whom have never served their country, ignorance is usually bliss in rhetoric.
(flush) by by hillary.......
Clinton also suggested that she was getting more fair coverage from Fox News than from MSNBC, which recently ran afoul of her campaign when correspondent David Shuster said her daughter Chelsea Clinton had been %u201Cpimped%u201D out to help with the election.
%u201CI really am troubled by this pattern of behavior and comments that you hear,%u201D she said.
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It''s about time you started calling MSNBC and some others over their one sided coverage and Obama''s on his vague rheteric.
Leadership (according to John Sculley) revolves around vision, ideas, direction, and has more to do with inspiring people as to direction and goals than with day-to-day implementation. A leader must be able to leverage more than his own capabilities. He must be capable of inspiring other people to do things without actually sitting on top of them with a checklist.%u201D Bennis, W. %u2018On Becoming a Leader%u2019 Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing, (1989, p.139)
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." John F. Kennedy
Excerpt. "Time is short & the contest tightening. We need to rise in furious energy%u2014as we did when Anita Hill was so vilely treated in the U.S. Senate, as we did when Rosie Jiminez was butchered by an illegal abortion, as we did & do for women globally who are condemned for trying to break through. We need to win, this time. Goodbye to supporting HRC tepidly, with ambivalent caveats & apologetic smiles. Time to volunteer, make phone calls, send emails, donate money, argue, rally, march, shout, vote. I support Hillary Rodham because she%u2019s the best qualified of all candidates running in both parties. I support her because her progressive politics are as strong as her proven ability to withstand what will be a massive right-wing assault in the general election. I support her because she knows how to get us out of Iraq. I support her because she%u2019s refreshingly thoughtful, & I%u2019m bloodied from eight years of a jolly %u201Cuniter%u201D with ejaculatory politics. I needn%u2019t agree with her on every point. I agree with the 97 percent of her positions that are identical with Obama%u2019s%u2014& the few where hers are both more practical & to the left of his (like health care). I support her because she%u2019s already made history as a fine senator, because I believe she will continue to make history not as the first US woman president, but as a great US president."
The reference to ejaculatory politics made me relize just how much I want him to cream her tonight. Am I a male chauvinist pig?
In that book, called "Dreams From My Father", he writes that he used marijuana and cocaine ("maybe a little blow".) Oddly enough, he writes that he didn''t try heroin because he didn''t like the pusher who was selling it. In a later interview, he added "Teenage boys are frequently confused."
NOW AREN''T YOU CONFUSED TOO! A little blow to sell more books as weed wasn''t prevocative enuff and it wasn''t gonna get O enuff dineros, O embellished or maybe misled his readers bout his habit too - Man flip-flopping on yo drug habit. And O didn''t like the man that pushed coke to him .. did he have another pusher pushing the weed too. Wonder who pushed the liquer.
DO WE REALLY WANT THIS IN THE OVAL OFFICE
Excerpt. "Time is short & the contest tightening. We need to rise in furious energy%u2014as we did when Anita Hill was so vilely treated in the U.S. Senate, as we did when Rosie Jiminez was butchered by an illegal abortion, as we did & do for women globally who are condemned for trying to break through. We need to win, this time. Goodbye to supporting HRC tepidly, with ambivalent caveats & apologetic smiles. Time to volunteer, make phone calls, send emails, donate money, argue, rally, march, shout, vote. I support Hillary Rodham because she%u2019s the best qualified of all candidates running in both parties. I support her because her progressive politics are as strong as her proven ability to withstand what will be a massive right-wing assault in the general election. I support her because she knows how to get us out of Iraq. I support her because she%u2019s refreshingly thoughtful, & I%u2019m bloodied from eight years of a jolly %u201Cuniter%u201D with ejaculatory politics. I needn%u2019t agree with her on every point. I agree with the 97 percent of her positions that are identical with Obama%u2019s%u2014& the few where hers are both more practical & to the left of his (like health care). I support her because she%u2019s already made history as a fine senator, because I believe she will continue to make history not as the first US woman president, but as a great US president."
Posted by pacific_c at 03:25 PM : Feb 12, 2008
WOW.... OK but no Dem Party
Should Obama NOT receive the Super Delegates vote if he wins by plurality, I will vote for the Green Party candidate and protest loudly against that obvious lack of honesty with the electorate.
L-et Barack HUSSEIN OBAMA tell us his religion
I-am MUSLIM, I mean I am CATHOLIC
P-ick the NEXT MUSLIM PRESIDENT and hear his flipflop game!
F-ellow Americans, you say what I say
L-et him vote in Senate and hear what he say 130 times
O-n the issues I say PRESENT so tomorrow I%u2019ll say YES and later I%u2019ll say NO
P-ick the NEXT MUSLIM PRESIDENT whose flipflop game is known.
ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT MUSLIM PRESIDENT?
DAY 1 of his life%u2026 he was created by his MUSLIM father.
DAY 1 of education%u2026 he was enrolled in a MUSLIM school.
DAY 1 of his puberty years%u2026 he is a crack HEROIN user.
DAY 1 of his Senator voting%u2026 he voted PRESENT and became a FLIPFLOPPER.
DAY 1 of his real estate business%u2026 he bought land from a slumlord.
DAY 1 of his campaign%u2026 he deny being a MUSLIM and became a LIAR.
ARE WE READY FOR THE NEXT MUSLIM PRESIDENT in DAY 1 after the elections?
My concern now is the course for the Super Delegates to take. They had best honor our votes and give their "Super Electoral Votes" to the popular vote of the people. Our voices, our votes, had better be taken seriously or I see a rise in revolt against the electoral system, the Democratic Party, and the politicians that used their votes against our choice.
Should Obama NOT receive the Super Delegates vote if he wins by plurality, I will vote for the Green Party candidate and protest loudly against that obvious lack of honesty with the electorate.
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by user168-2009
February 13, 2008 2:33 AM PST
- The Clintons have nothing to say to a generation of young people looking for authenticity, honesty and transparency in their leaders and in their government.
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See all 40 CommentsThat''s why more and more young people are turning to Barack Obama.
MARTIN EDWIN ANDERSEN
Well said!
I am 60 years old and I don''t think I want anything to do with these Hillbilly Crooks either. How many out there want a pair of crooks to represent them? Everything these Hillbillies did is deceitful and self-gratifying. Words such as wisdom, compassion, or courage just do not exist in their dictionary.
The Billary Hillbillies are shameless and loveless in misleading our youths by setting the worst of examples!
%u201CSetting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.%u201D
%u201CThe foundation of every state is the education of its youth.%u201D
%u201CTo know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.%u201D
%u201CKnowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.%u201D
%u201COne atom of the plane where He functions would shatter the world.%u201D
%u201CWhat is governing to him who cannot rule himself? Who cannot rule himself, how should he rule others?%u201D
KEEP THE HILLBILLIES OUT OF SIGHT!
NO CHILD SHOULD LEARN ANYTHING FROM THEM!