Clinton Wins New Mexico Democratic Caucus

N.Y. Senator Tops Obama By 1,709 Votes After Prolonged Count Following Super Tuesday Contest

(CBS/AP)  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton finally won the popular vote in New Mexico's Democratic caucus and picked up one extra delegate Thursday, nine days after Super Tuesday voting ended, CBS News reports.

State Democratic Chairman Brian Colon made the announcement after a marathon hand count of 17,000 provisional ballots that had to be given to voters on Feb. 5 because of long lines and a shortage of ballots. The final statewide count gave her a 1,709-vote edge over rival Sen. Barack Obama, 73,105 or 48.8 percent of the total vote to 71,396 or 47.6 percent.

The former first lady's victory in the popular vote swung the final unallocated New Mexico delegate into her column, which gave Clinton 14 delegates in the state to 12 for Obama.

The national delegate count stood at 1,281 for Obama and 1,198 for Clinton on Thursday, according to CBS News.

"I am so proud to have earned the support of New Mexicans from across the state," Clinton said in a written statement. "New Mexicans want real solutions to our nation's challenges. As president, I will continue to stand up for New Mexico and will hit the ground running on day one to bring about real change."

The Obama campaign appeared to accept the outcome.

Obama's state director, Carlos Monje Jr., was asked Thursday if he was confident the results were 100 percent accurate and replied, "We have confidence in the process." Asked if Obama might seek a recount, he said Obama has momentum from eight wins since Super Tuesday and "we are going to look forward at the contests we have remaining."

Monje said there were some "troubling aspects" in the conduct of the caucus, including "incredibly long lines that kept people from voting," but he saw their solution in the future. "We're going to continue to work with the New Mexico Democratic state party to make sure the next election goes more smoothly."

Of the 22 states that held Democratic primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday, New Mexico was the last to report a winner. The caucus here was run by the state Democratic party rather than by state government.

Colon, who came under fire for his handling of the troubled election, thanked the hundreds of volunteers who counted the ballots. The final figures "have been double and triple checked," he said in a televised announcement.

New Mexico Democrats call their contest a caucus, but it's not like Iowa's caucuses where voters gather in gyms, churches or meeting rooms, divide into groups for each candidate, try to attract more support from other groups, and then count each group. Rather it more closely resembles a "firehall primary" - a primary with shorter voting hours and fewer voting sites than would be found in traditional state primaries.

It was a mess: Overwhelmed polling places with long lines, some up to three hours. Too few ballots. Confusion over where to vote. Bad weather in the north. In Rio Rancho, one of the state's largest cities, a single polling location where 1,900 people remain lined up at 7 p.m on election night.

Colon has apologized repeatedly: "We absolutely miscalculated and I apologize. It's a tragedy when folks are not afforded the opportunity to vote."

The firestorm of criticism included some from Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson, a former presidential hopeful who said he was "deeply disturbed" by the problems. Partly because he was a candidate himself until mid-January, Richardson himself never got involved in helping plan or promote the caucus, as he did in 2004, the first year New Mexico tried it.

On Super Tuesday, Clinton and Obama vied for 26 of New Mexico's 38 delegates to this summer's Democratic National Convention. Twelve so-called superdelegates are not bound by caucus results.

New Mexico awards Democratic delegates proportionally, based on statewide vote totals and on the results in individual congressional districts.

In two of the state's three congressional districts, Clinton and Obama equally split an even number of delegates at stake. In District 2, which had an uneven number of delegates, Clinton won the additional one by outpolling Obama by 55 percent to 41 percent, according to unofficial results.

Nine statewide delegates were at stake. Obama and Clinton evenly split the eight delegates already awarded. The final one was assigned to the statewide popular vote winner.

[malisajack]

AMERICA if Hillary Clinton wins prepare yourself for more of the White House scandles that you had in the 1990''s. It is hard to focus on out great country if you are busy defending yourself. - Obama is the better candidate to get the job done - We need change and He is the person to bring the changes we need to get our country back on track.

[iceman_1960]

"Would all Neanderthals please leave this site, please? This site is intended for the clear thinking Americans for Change!"
- Posted by bywill at 05:20 AM : Feb 16, 2008

I happen to be a clear thinking Neanderthal for Change.

Go Obama !!

[saveamerica1]

Who are these Independent voters? The majority of Democrats (actually nearly 2/3 of Democrats) vote for Hillary Clinton over Barrack Hussein Obama. However, the Independent voters change all that. Why are we allowing Independent voters vote in Democrat''s Primary. These Independent voters could be Republicans behind the scene trying to mess up the Democrats. Obviously, those who registered as Democrats are heavily leaning towards Hillary Clinton (please check and keep checking national polls regarding registered Democrats). The Independent voters are really taking away what true Democrats want. The Independent voters should be allowed to vote only their own Independent Primary. If Democrats are allowed to vote in Republican''s Primary, what do you think the Democrats will do?

[saveamerica1]

Who are these Independent voters? The majority of Democrats (actually nearly 2/3 of Democrats) vote for Hillary Clinton over Barrack Hussein Obama. However, the Independent voters change all that. Why are we allowing Independent voters vote in Democrat''s Primary. These Independent voters could be Republicans behind the scene trying to mess up the Democrats. Obviously, those who registered as Democrats are heavily leaning towards Hillary Clinton (please check and keep checking national polls regarding registered Democrats). The Independent voters are really taking away what true Democrats want. The Independent voters should be allowed to vote only their own Independent Primary. If Democrats are allowed to vote in Republican''s Primary, what do you think the Democrats will do?

[jerkeedoodle]

What is the use of working overtime,or two jobs,to get ahead,when the IRS takes almost everything you''ve gained,because your effort threw you into a higher tax bracket?You think the republicans or the democrats will fix this?The republicans could care less about anyone not making a million dollars a year,and see it as my fault,that I''m financially inept.Some of us don''t want to play the stock market,and are happy being auto mechanics,truck drivers,and nurses.The democrats think I''m too stupid to take care of myself.They want to give me aid,and ensnare me even deeper in a system that I hate.I''m angry at the whole of DC,and angry at people like you that are silly enough to believe the system still works.If blowing off some steam here keeps "neanderthals" from "parking a truck" beside a federal office building,I don''t see the problem.Lighten up.

[jerkeedoodle]

bywill,you bigot!Discriminating against Neanderthals.I must ask you,do you really think this site is that serious?Most all of the posts on here that I''ve seen where people were having a "serious discussion",nobody was changing anybody elses mind.Of the ones that were agreeing with each other,they would have just as well been using an IMS for all of the attention everybody else was paying to their "conversation".What''s really sad are the people on here that have a bunch of education and vocabulary,and yet they''re too dumb to realize that there really isn''t much difference in the two parties where the average guy is concerned.Voting has become nothing more than swapping one set of corporate stooges for another."The democrats will help me with all of their social programs,that''s where they differ from the republicans.",you say.Does it ever occur to any of you educated idiots that some of us don''t want a handout,or even a hand up,that all we want is an even playing field? continued

[bywill]

Would all Neanderthals please leave this site, please? This site is intended for the clear thinking Americans for Change! This process is to far advance to comment on idiotic statements. Go to www.barackobama.com, for better info concerning the candidate. All of a sudden Caucuses matter! Flip Flop, Flip Flop! More of the same game.
OBAMA 08 can''t wait!!

[sjbj2322]

kstar22...You are full of it. The attributes to which you speak are not indicative of highly educated individuals but enlightened individuals. Fortunately there has considerable evidence to show that there is no correlation between one''s level of academic achievement and one''s level of enlightenment. Moreover, how dare you endeavor to plead with someone to see your infinite wisdom when you''ve just previously inferred that if they didn''t, they were stupid, uneducated and without an ethical or moral base to make such differentiations. Your own deception fails you. Perhaps it would be wiser in the future to stick to addressing the issues or the candidates themselves rather than the judgement of others that differs from your own.

[davthewav1]

The situation concerning Florida, Michigan, and the super delegates could cause the defeat of the Democratic Party in the general election if either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama do not receive enough delegates to clinch the nomination . Would changing the rules at the end of the game by including Florida and Michigan delegates to sway the results be fair or would it cause a rebellion ?

John McCain is not so conservative that moderate independents and angry Democrats would not change their minds and vote for him if they felt like they were being cheated . Florida and Michigan were excluded for breaking the rules and the candidates agreed not to campaign in those states . If the Democratic National Committee break their own rules now by counting them in, then maybe they should be excluded by eliminating the super delegate count .

If Howard Dean, chairman of the party, decides to include Florida and Michigan then perhaps he should count the uncommitted votes in Michigan as Obama votes and exclude all of the super delegates then adjust the nominating delegate count accordingly and let the leading candidate win . That would be more of a truly democratic process . This is America after all and the people should decide who their president should be and not decided by a handful of politicians and elitists .

A Concerned Democrat

[croft777]

Obama said he was against NAFTA, but supports Peruvian trade agreement which is an extension on NAFTA.

OBama said he is against politicians taking money from PAC and lobbyist. Obama takes money from state based PAC and lobbyist who are affiliated with the Washington lobbyist.

Obama said to help pay for his purposed health insurance he would raise taxes and raise the tax on SS wages.

Obamas real estate deal and relationship with Arab- American activist Tony Rezko raises ethical questions. Rezko is in jail, he was a large contributor to Obamas fundraising. Obama was sold his home and land at a huge discounted price by Rezko.

Obamas church %u201CTrinity United Church of Christ%u201D in Chicago, gave Louis Farrakhan an empowerment award and publicized an interview with him in their Trumpet News Magazine. The Publication was titled, %u201CThe Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.%u201D Louis Farrakhan is a Black Muslim Leader. In a book titled, %u201CThe Islamic Invasion%u201D by Robert Morey, C.1992 he states:

%u201CIn a video tape of the 1991 %u201CSaviors Day%u201D celebration, the head of Farrakhan%u2019s army stated that he was tired of hearing people say that they were willing to die for Islam. What he wanted to know was if they were willing to kill for Islam (Morey, 1992)