Obama Looks To Ride Wave Of Momentum
Ahead Of 3 Tuesday Primaries, Clinton Dismisses Talk That Her Campaign Is In Trouble
-
Play CBS Video
Video
Obama Rides Momentum
Barack Obama is riding a wave of momentum gained by recent wins and a new poll that shows in the general election he would have a six point lead over John McCain. Dean Reynolds reports.
-
Video
Clinton Trails Obama's Lead
Hillary Clinton's recent losses have caused her to trail Barack Obama's delegate count. Susan Roberts reports.
-
Video
Clinton Fires Campaign Manager
As the prospect of her winning the Democratic nomination takes a hit in the face of Sen. Barack Obama's formidable challenge, Sen. Hillary Clinton fired her campaign manager. Dean Reynolds reports.
-
Photo
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., makes remarks at a rally Monday, Feb. 11, 2008, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
-
News Tools
Campaign Calendar
The latest list of primary and caucus dates as states continue jockeying for position.
-
Video Library
On The Campaign Trail
An up-close look at life on the road with the major presidential candidates.
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.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.




- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
See all 199 CommentsIt 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
Either way, the neocon movement is over. The Republicans just nominated their crazy liberal senile uncle.
Your in big trouble hun. You personality is just not likeable
conventional wisdom. America has longed for a real candidate to end the nightmare of the government that currently represents us. Barack Obama has the skills and the knowledge, the desire, and the conviction. It is up to us to give him the opportunity. This is not about race or gender, party or label. It is about our future and Barack Obama can do it without all the distraction of political and personal drama.
Hillary rides a broom.
There are well over 30,000 registered lobbyists that will soon need to get real jobs in this country. The breast is almost out of milk!
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pardonchartlst.htm
Clinton must now adopt the "wait and see" approach for Ohio and Texas that worked so poorly for Guiliani with Florida.
In the meantime, the Obama momentum will build and will be hard to stop.
Obama is becoming even more self-assured and Presidential in his rallies. One cannot help but become hopeful and enthused.
BTW, if you can''t make it to a rally, you can find the entire Obama rally setlist--from "City of Blinding Lights" to which he takes the stage to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered"--the entire setlist!--on Itunes, here:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=273867065&s=143441&v0=575
He is trying to change the dynamic of politics-as-usual. Listen to his message and you will see the beginnings of a political revolution.
Let''s just hope that after he is elected, he will not forget those who made it possible.
By March it may be too late. Momentum is everything.
Did obama change washington? No
Did obama bring the party''s togeather? No
Did obama change to world?
Just which of his grandios promises did he deliver on??????,,,,,,thats a good question. The answer is none.
==========================================
If nothing else, this primary has proved that not to be the case on both sides of the isle.
I knew a guy who always talked about how he helped people outside of work, but that''s the problem - all he ever did was talk about it at work and never did a single deed of kindness at work. He was the bully in the office. If voters just vote for some guy based on how much he stirs up your emotions, or how much they hate the other candidate for personal reasons, then those voters are irresponsible and should be stripped of their right to vote. It''s people like them that got George W. Bush into the White House and for ''4 more years''.
He will end war in Iraq, Iran ,Afghanistan the moment he becomes President.......its Momentum to Islam .
All muslims vote Obama......he son of Allah.
Let me see,some people do like style over substance-that''s the only place he can deliver.Besides the ideological pundits-who are mostly paid on performance basis-seasoned people can spot a phony from a mile away.Remember,any vote for Rama Obama means one less vote for Hillary.That means democrats will not take the White house in November.
He will end war in Iraq, Iran ,Afghanistan the moment he becomes President.......its Momentum to Islam .
All muslims vote Obama......he son of Allah.
BALONEY! The Clinyton machine thought they would have the whole thing wrapped up by now. There was no "Plan B".
They stacked the early primaries and were instrumental in putting this rediculous "super delagate" strategy in place.
They never saw a grass-roots tidal wave called "Obama". That''s why they are lost every state this weekend. They didn''t conceive that they would need to campaign there.
And when they get waxed on Tuesday...game over!
GO OBAMA!
Why should I move to Iraq? I am not a pro-muslim. I am not supporting Barack Hussain Osama oops Obama.
No more distraction for the populace-get back to regular bread and games.
And when they get waxed on Tuesday...game over!briannorwood
no dweeb, games just beginning, I support Hillary 100% here in Ohio, and I know so many who feel the same. So dweeb, take it else where. People are voting for Obama blindly, but you know a few good posters on devil Obama and what he really is will change peoples mind on voting on him. Yeah the press hasn''t let out Obamas dirt, so the public will!!
No Thanks! F*kk the train, I''m flying High!!! GO HILLARY!!!!!!
Posted by pinkyali at 11:31 PM''
I overheard a woman at work say that she would never vote for Obama because he was a Muslim. It''s ignorant people like that who would never vote for Obama anyway, so their ignorance about Obama not even being a Muslim is a moot point.
I''m an adult! and my answer is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Posted by someone1700
I can''t be the only person to see the irony in this guys post. He fears Obama beacuse he thinks (incorectlly) that he is a muslim, and therfore will be a part of some extremist cult. In reality he is the one blindly following an ideology of hatered. I can only HOPE that god lets all those hate mongers through due to their "mental illness".
hey jerk, just because you can''t stand the thought of a woman as president, don''t take it out on me. Your being a your a wussy, not a man ,insecure about women, I bet they beat you up, I would. Obama is a complete loser, the states he won are trivial when it comes to the real race, he won the wrong states, many of them go republican, plus that there are only 13% of blacks in this country. Its a known fact that to win the race you have to have the majority of the womens vote, sorry he don''t have it, hillary does. Women make up the majority in this countr, they vote more then men do. Hillary if the truth be known, shes winning by far, she won both Michigan and Florida, and they should not be penalized, its not the voters fault. And I''m sure they will count before this race is over, they need to count, theres to many of them. So Obama and his fairy tale lies can go take a ride on their slum train and I''ll take a ride in the fast lane.
you are a complete mor*n. I lived as an adult through the clinton years, Sorry its old news. People spent millions of dollars trying to find dirt on the Clintons, all they found was Bills cheating. They have not proved anything. Obama on the other hand has much dirt on him, tons of it, and I''m sure if he get nominated, which I doubt, the Republicans will have a hay day bringing it out.
I don''t get this man here a beer, what makes you think I''d get you one, you slime bag. Your messing with the wrong person. I am an Archaeologist, what are you? I know your one of those greeters at McDonalds or Wally world.
Arkansas
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Iowa
Idaho
Kansas
Maine
Missouri
Montana
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
Nevada
Oklahoma
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wyoming
Thats right! If you lived in any of these states, your collective vote (ALL of you combined), counts LESS than the superdelegate party hacks (who during Clinton the first gave us NAFTA, Telecom Deregulation, Wall Street/Banking deregulation, and nothing on alternative energy, corporate welfare reform, progressive taxes, cut bloated military....)
And you thought "one person one vote" ??? Not in America!So much for corporate-controlled democracy.
Good comparison. Obama-O.J. I like it
Ahhh, now come on, you started it, does this mean I win, I alway do.
Talk is cheap, We need substance. People who are greedy for money and power usually are good speakers, like Reagan, who managed to fool the entire nation into believing that he had done a lot, while he was the laziest president ever. Reagan and his wife had literately turned the WH into a circus Hollywood style, with them being the clown and actors for 8 years. Many woman, children, and minority people are still suffering financially today because of Reagan.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
See all 199 Comments