Obama Looks To Ride Wave Of Momentum

Ahead Of 3 Tuesday Primaries, Clinton Dismisses Talk That Her Campaign Is In Trouble

(CBS/AP)  Democrat Barack Obama looked to a trio of races Tuesday to carry him past rival Hillary Clinton in their battle for the White House, while the former first lady dismissed talk that her campaign was in trouble after a series of losses.

John McCain, the Republicans' presumptive nominee, also eyed the election contests in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to rebound from embarrassing weekend losses to rival Mike Huckabee and show that he can rally the party's conservative base behind him.

In the Democratic race, Obama, locked in an epic battle with Clinton for the party's nomination, was counting on those three primaries to erase Clinton's slim delegate lead for an edge in a contest that could stretch to the Democrats' national convention in August.

Black Democrats, who have supported the Illinois senator in his bid to be the first black U.S. president, are expected to factor large in the three so-called Potomac primary races, named after the river that touches all three localities.

Obama's nearly 5-1 margin among blacks has forced Hillary Clinton to fight for a voting bloc once felt to be securely hers, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

Over the weekend, Obama secured a clean sweep in five races: Louisiana, Washington state, Nebraska, Maine and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Clinton's losses, coupled with her decision to replace her campaign manager with a longtime aide and Obama's infusion of new funds, fueled talk that the New York senator's campaign bid was falling on tough times. Clinton dismissed such speculation Monday.

"I'm still ahead in the popular vote and in delegates," Clinton told reporters at a Maryland campaign stop, though the numbers do not fully support that statement.

Delegate estimates compiled by CBS News gave Obama a slim lead after a string of convincing weekend victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, the Virgin Islands and Maine. Including superdelegates, the Democratic elected officials and party leaders who have a vote at the party's convention, Obama has 1,139 delegates while Clinton has 1,132. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination. (View the Democratic delegate scorecard.)

Clinton, who is seeking to become the U.S.'s first female president, is also looking for a big rebound in the high-stakes March 4 primaries in Texas and Ohio. Both candidates said Monday they were launching ads in those states.

Obama is riding a wave of support after winning more states than Clinton in the 22 contests on Super Tuesday last week and then sweeping the weekend races by wide margins. The remainder of the February calendar looks favorable to him, including next week's contests in Wisconsin and his native Hawaii.

Obama was loose and enjoying himself Monday in front of another huge crowd - looking every bit the man who swept all the contests this past weekend, reports Reynolds

Clinton and Obama largely agree on the major issues, so both are increasingly emphasizing who would be the stronger candidate in the general election against McCain.

An Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows Obama would narrowly defeat McCain if the presidential election were being held now. If Clinton were the Democratic nominee, she and McCain would run about even.

Obama said Monday he is the candidate who can lead the country out of a long period of divisive and ineffective government, a theme he increasingly uses against Clinton, who was first lady for eight years.

"We need something new," he said, dismissing Clinton's suggestions that he is not tough enough to handle the rigors of the presidency.

But the Democratic nomination is far from decided, with weeks or months of campaigning still ahead. Clinton is an experienced campaigner certainly capable of pulling off more surprise wins, as she did Jan. 8 in New Hampshire. The AP-Ipsos poll still shows Clinton leading Obama 46 percent to 41 percent nationally among Democrats.

Clinton said she never expected to do well in any of the weekend contests, and her campaign predicted that while Obama may take the spoils in February, March would be her month.

In the Republican race, McCain challenged the notion he is struggling to rally conservative critics as he picked up the endorsement of Gary Bauer, an evangelical leader.

"We're doing fine. We're doing fine," McCain told reporters in Annapolis, Maryland.

Bauer, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, said in an interview with the AP that he wanted to "unite conservatives" and that McCain's anti-abortion stance makes him a better choice than Clinton or Obama.

McCain is "going to need every last one of the conservative activists," he said.

McCain lost to preacher-turned-politician Huckabee on Saturday in Kansas and Louisiana, although he won narrowly in Washington state. Huckabee's weekend victories highlight the difficulty the veteran Arizona senator faces in convincing the party's core right-wing blocs that he is one of them.

Still, McCain is all but assured his party nod after rolling up huge numbers of delegates to the national convention. 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.)

McCain appeared likely to rebound on Tuesday in the next Republican contests. Polls conducted last week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. 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.

[b-easy63]

Posted by pacific_c at 01:29 AM : Feb 13, 2008

It must really gall you when you turn around and see the small but sincere Hilary crowds (12,000 is her largest eh?) to note your fellow Hitlery voters are either stumbling around bumping into walls, not there, because the site wasn''t on the bus route, or are shriveled up old ladies with bandy legs, or are old men with plaid pants pulled up to their armpits--to think this is what Hitlery inspires: The stupid, the dying and decrepit and those too poor due to NAFTA to get out either credit cards to support her, or get themselves to the sites to cheer for her. We feel for you--living in the past.

YOur time has come and gone. And we all know your group is on their way out--the future belongs who those who will actually be in it now--grandma. This is NOT your granny''s or gramps or even your America any longer. And thanks for allowing Social Security to be gutted for the past 30 years.

[b-easy63]

We%u2019re going to sweep across Texas in the next three weeks, bringing our message about what we need in America: The kind of president that will be required on day one to be commander in chief, to turn the economy around,%u201D Clinton told a crowd of thousands in El Paso Thursday night. %u201CI%u2019m tested. I%u2019m ready. Let%u2019s make this happen."


Hilary: "yeah, I''''m tested and I''''m ready!! so what if I can''''t manage my campaign and my core group is splintering...so what if I can''''t manage the campaign money and have to lend myself millions to survive one month? I SWEAR I''''ll do better, when it''''s the entire country and YOUR money, I get to manage--honest"

You have a point Hilary. Bush had ''''experience'''' and it showed he ran all businesses he owned into the ground and had to be bailed out (then he did it on the macro scale with the country) now you are showing that with your experience--you can''''t call a war right, don''''t know how to back off of torture, can''''t release your finances and can''''t even run or direct a Presidential campaign. We gave Bush a shot--why not you?


Why not, indeed.

[pacific_c]

How dare anyone unilaterally decide when to turn the page on history, papering over real inequities & suffering constituencies in the promise of a feel-good campaign? How dare anyone claim to unify while dividing, or think that to rouse U.S. youth from torpor it%u2019s useful to triage the single largest demographic in this country%u2019s history: the majority of which is female? Old woman are the women who changed the reality of the United States. We are the women who brought this country equal credit, better pay, affirmative action, a family-focused workplace; the women who put childcare on the national agenda, established rape-crisis centers & battery shelters, marital-rape & date-rape laws; fought for prison reform, founded the peace & environmental movements; who insisted that medical research include female anatomy; created women%u2019s studies & Title. We are the proud successors of women who, though it took more than 50 years, won us the vote.
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. We need to win, this time. Goodbye to supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton tepidly. Time to volunteer, make phone calls, send emails, donate money, argue, rally, march, shout, vote. I support Senator Clinton because I believe she will make history not only as the first US woman president, but as a great US president. - Robin Morgan

[photomont]

The only change I''m going to see is my voting status from democrate to Republican !

[tane_lewis]

A man of integrity with as much good will and good humor as he is just and humane - the Atticus Finch of our time! He exudes a fatherly, comforting persona that takes me back to the semi-fictional hero of To Kill A Mockingbird.

[tane_lewis]

A man of integrity with as much good will and good humor as he is just and humane - the Atticus Finch of our time! He exudes a fatherly, comforting persona that takes me back to the semi-fictional hero of To Kill A Mockingbird.

[chitown639]

No fool like an oldthought...oopps...I mean old fool!!

[Netterz]

Your obviously young then&are not up on History. Check who supported WHO in what wars. You say my president as if I support Bush & cronies as you call it, when I openly stated that I dont believe in party lines? Your the example of ''ASSUME'' makes an a$$ out of.. Middle East Terror Groups have hated us for decades, to use your own word, idiot. Countries who still see little use/respect for women, &most of there own men, planning children''s fates, purpose &marriages are set between families & leaders, before their even born. Get off the Internet where anyone can write anything & say its true, & head to your local library, find the history section of BOOKS, not the computer. You must have missed or failed history class in HS. I honor-rolled all through HS, & 8 years of College, did you? I am all for CHANGE, But one doesnt respect America, changes color like a chameleon, doesnt make me comfortable. Were you personally raised with him, lived every moment of his life, so you know every detail of his life? I think not. I want a president who loves this country, & wants to fix it, not the world, as the Clintons, and Bush failed to do. SO if you cant handle other peoples opinions with out resorting to acting like a 5th grader, you shouldnt read them. I dont trust the man. I dont trust any of them, no one has shown me what I want to see happen for the future of my family & country. But open, blatant DISRESPECT for my country, is NOT what I care to see in the White House.

[akona2]

%u201CWe will make it right in DAY 1%u201D said Barack HUSSEIN OBAMA.

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?

[user168-2009]

Hillbilly Dumpty sat on a vole.
Hillbilly Dumpty had a great fall.
All the Maggie Williams "REMOVED FILES"
Couldn''''t put Hillbilly together again.

"If you look into your own heart, and you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about? What is there to fear?"

Hillary, what is that you SOOO worry about?

Hillary, I truly hope what you are worrying about are the men, women, and children being slaughtered, dying, and suffering in that on-going bloody war you eagerly supported.

"... How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?..."

WHY MUST OTHERS DIE SO YOU SHOULD LIVE?

Hillary, to love means wanting it to live!

"HELL is This Thing called WAR!"

"ONLY THE DEAD HAVE SEEN THE END OF WAR." Not Hillary?

Oh where, oh where were my Hillary phony tears when I needed thou most???

[user168-2009]

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 "HELL is this thing called WAR" Iraq War isn''''t enough? Why create more fight and war to divide our country? Why don''''t you want PEACE in this country FOR OUR CHILDREN? 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 mention by so many.

Our nation''s youth is smarter than you Hillary can imagine!

[user168-2009]

To the Clintons:

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time"!

THOU SHALT NOT FOOL AMERICA''S YOUTH! THEY ARE THE PEOPLE WE''''VE BEEN WAITING FOR.



GO! YOUNG ADULTS, VOTE FOR YOUR DREAM! VOTE FOR WISDOM, COMPASSION, AND COURAGE! VOTE OBAMA!

%u201CLIVE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.%u201D

[user168-2009]

YOUNG ADULTS, our nation depends on YOU to make a CHANGE!

It takes WISDOM, COMPASSION, and COURAGE to oppose the Iraq War. It also takes wisdom, compassion, and courage to run a country! America wants nothing less.

"... But we ought not %u2014 we will not %u2014 travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain." ~ Obama

"The enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution."

"Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

%u201CHe who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it."


"Hold faithfulness and sincerity as your first principles."
"Kindness in thinking creates profoundness."
"From caring comes courage."


LOOK DEEP INTO YOUR HEART, VOTE OBAMA!

%u201CLIVE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.%u201D

[user168-2009]

%u201CWithout truth I know not how man can live.%u201D

Should we think, say, and do things according to wisdom, compassion, and courage, or should we calculate the gain and choose otherwise by ignoring truth?

What have we been teaching our children about truth, harmony, and peace?

What is more important?

Benefiting the world or our own country?

Benefiting the country or our own community?

Benefiting the community or our own family?

Benefiting the family or our own self?

Ever wonder how we can have real world peace?

Not if everyone is Bill or Hillary, or McCain.

Wisdom, love, and courage can never be selfish.

So be it that the nation%u2019s youth sees Hope in Truth, OBAMA!

"We are the people we''ve been waiting for."

"LIVE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD."

[tibu987]

Yes, Virginia, (Maryland and Washington also), there is a Santa Claus and he is black and he is named Obama.

Vote for Santa, i.e., Obama, and he will bring the U.S. many gifts.

I am.

[tibu987]

"OBAMA LOOKS TO RIDE WAVE OF MOMENTUM"
And well he should. We have not had this sort of optimistic momentum from a presidential candidate since John F. Kennedy.

The people voted for a mandate of change from the Democratic Party and Obama represents that mandate, that change.

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.

[abbe91]

"Would you bother to look up Obama on any source and perhaps check some of those "fact" you posted on snopes.com or ANY other fact checking resource , it will make you look a lot less like a narrow-minded blithering idiot.

Posted by taddles at 01:17 PM : Feb 12, 2008"


Maybe he should also check Giuliani''s links with Qatar, Al-Thani, KSM ... to me, that''s much closer to a muslim extremist than Obama could ever be.

[taddles-2009]

"HOW can we be sure, that this man, named Barrack Hussien OBAMA, not be a well groomed, well hidden, Terrorist, sent here to infiltrate our Gov''''t, to become President, to help take this country DOWN & OUT?

Posted by OldThought at 12:52 PM : Feb 12, 2008"

Yea, because those terrorists had it in for us back in ''61 when he was born and worked it all out so he could become president...wow, that''s about the dumbest thing I think I''ve read in weeks. Ya know, he coulda been sent here by them aliens too! Them aliens is a sneaky bunch ain''t they Cletus.

[taddles-2009]

"I have grave reservations about the man being elected, for the very reasons above.

Posted by OldThought at 12:52 PM : Feb 12, 2008"

Every reason you have "given" above is a lie and has been refuted by numerous sources. You are parroting the stupid coming from right wing nut jobs who want to scare you into doing their bidding. You whine about the Constitution being torn apart, your president and his cronies have done more harm to the principles of the Constitution than any off shore terrorists ever could.

Would you bother to look up Obama on any source and perhaps check some of those "fact" you posted on snopes.com or ANY other fact checking resource , it will make you look a lot less like a narrow-minded blithering idiot.

[jerkeedoodle]

Hey Oldthought,Does it really make any difference?I''m with you on voting being a waste of time,and would like to see some of the same things happen that you would.If the guy is on the up and up.maybe he''ll fix things.If he''s not,maybe he''ll mess sshit up so bad that it motivates the people in this country to rise up and toss the whole bunch out in the street.What have you got to lose?