Obama Campaign Is Right: Delegate Race Is Theirs to Lose
February 14, 2008
But if the trends hold, Obama will continue to win by large margins, roughly 2 to 1, while Clinton's wins will remain narrower, roughly 55 percent to 45 percent.
There is no doubt that Barack Obama has what the elder George Bush called "Big Mo'." In a conference call early today, his campaign manager, Pavid Plouffe, told reporters that by their reckoning:
Obama now leads Clinton by 136 pledged delegates. Because Democrats split primary and caucus votes proportionally, Clinton would have to win the remaining contests in "blowout form" to pull even with Obama, Plouffe argued.
That includes the big showdowns on March 4 in Texas and Ohio, where Plouffe said Clinton would have to win by well over 20 points to significantly close the gap.
"We see absolutely no evidence in any of the contests remaining that that would be the case," he said. "The math is the math."
Following Obama's string of victories since the weekend, Plouffe said, "We believe that we couldn't be in a stronger position."A lot of people, notably my colleague Trish and, especially, Air America talkshow host Randi Rhodes, are upset at the prospect that even if Obama wins the regular delegate count, Clinton could take the nomination by having more superdelegates.
But if the trends hold, Obama will continue to win by large margins, roughly 2 to 1, while Clinton's wins will remain narrower, roughly 55 percent to 45 percent.
