Obama Walks Softly, Carries a Big Lead
Posted on: Friday, 9 May 2008, 12:00 CDT
WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama gently and gingerly assumed the mantle of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee on Thursday, easing his way toward a victory much of the media already has granted him while carefully avoiding giving offense to a rival who remains one of the most celebrated figures of the Democratic Party.
The Illinois senator dropped by the House for what amounted to a low-key victory lap as he touched base with congressional superdelegates, did a round of television interviews and began making preparations to campaign in major general-election battleground states even as the primaries continue.
The one thing he did not do is openly claim victory.
"We're in this weird place where the media and the world have already declared us the nominee," said an Obama adviser. "But we still have six primaries and an opponent who is incredibly formidable and a major figure. How do you handle that?"
Even behind the veil of anonymity, Obama's camp is diligently paying homage to rival Hillary Clinton right now.
The campaign is determined to avoid any appearance of muscling Clinton aside. No one in the Obama camp wants to complicate the task of unifying the party for the fall election or provoke Clinton into digging in further out of wounded pride.
For her part, the New York senator showed no signs of giving up the fight, despite financial straits that have required her to lend her campaign a total of more than $11 million and a daunting deficit in delegates to the party's national convention.
She traversed the country Thursday for a full day of campaign rallies, from the mountains of West Virginia to the plains of South Dakota and on to the West Coast for a stop in Oregon, all states with upcoming primaries.
At a rally under the dome of the West Virginia state Capitol, Clinton dismissed calls for her to drop out as "deja vu all over again." She said she had been counted out before but went on to victories in New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.
She again pressed her argument that she would be the strongest Democratic candidate in the general election, promoting her support among "hard-working Americans, white Americans" in an interview with USA Today, telling the newspaper, "I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on."
Obama struck a delicate balance between showing confidence and avoiding presumptuousness.
Looking to the general election, Obama largely focused on differences with the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in an interview with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.
Obama accused McCain of trying to smear him and "losing his bearings" because of the Republican's suggestion that Palestinian terrorist group Hamas preferred Obama for president. "This is offensive, and I think it's disappointing, because John McCain always says, 'Well, I'm not going to run that kind of politics.' And then to engage in that kind of smear, I think, is unfortunate," said Obama, who added that his policy toward Hamas is "no different" than McCain's stance.
Still, Obama brushed aside a new Time magazine cover with the words "And The Winner Is..." on a grinning picture of the senator.
"I don't want to be jinxed. We've still got some work to do," Obama responded.
But the campaign plans to drum in the idea that he is, in fact, the victor by marking a series of milestones in the coming weeks.
On May 20, when Oregon and Kentucky hold primaries, Obama will under any likely scenario clinch the majority of elected convention delegates.
"That will be an important day," Obama said in an interview with NBC anchor Brian Williams. "If at that point we have the majority of pledged delegates, which is possible, then I think we can make a pretty strong claim that we've got the most runs and it's the ninth inning and we've won."
The campaign also anticipates it will soon be able to claim the majority of superdelegates. An aide said plans are to promote that as a measure of success.
Obama came closer to that goal with commitments of support from superdelegates Reps. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.).
The campaign manager for former presidential candidate John Edwards, former House Democratic Whip David Bonior of Michigan, also endorsed Obama.
Bonior, a well-liked and well-connected former member of the House Democratic leadership, cited Obama's success in confronting recent political challenges, such as the controversy over incendiary comments of his pastor.
"I was waiting for Sen. Obama to show me the fight I wanted to see because it's going to be a difficult fight against Sen. McCain," Bonior said in a conference call with reporters.
After losing big primaries in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania, Obama rebounded with a decisive victory in North Carolina on Tuesday and held Clinton to a narrow win in Indiana.
"He's shown great skill, great poise and great fighting spirit. And I was looking for that fighting spirit," Bonior said.
Source: Chicago Tribune
User Comments (1)
| 1. |
Posted by crat3 on 05/09/2008, 12:55 Sen. Obama is no "presumptive nominee." Black racism cannot trump the Democratic nomination process. Obama's lead in delegates, superdelegates and votes is due to the black racism in voting against Sen. Clinton. Obama does not have the requisite number of delegates for the nomination; he has no presumptive lock on the nomination. The Democratic nomination process is still in progress and concludes when all of the remaining states have voted and the superdelegates select the best qualified candidate using their independent judgment. Sen. Clinton is the best qualified presidential candidate and she must continue her fight for the future of America. Swiping the nomination from Sen. Clinton with the premature end of the nomination process is a subversion of the Democratic nomination process and this will result in Obama’s crashing and burning in November and the Democratic Party a train wreck in November. I will vote McCain. McCain will be president and it will be four more years of Bush under McCain. Black racism must be defeated. |
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