Saturday Primary Contests

Today, February 9th, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will be going head-to-head for delegates in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state and the Virgin Islands. On Sunday the race moves to Maine. Of these five contests, four are caucuses (Louisiana is a primary).

On the Republican side John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul will compete in primaries in Kansas, Louisiana and Washington state.

See the latest election results from today here

Louisiana

Low turnout expected in Louisiana primary:

But even with all that late activity, Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said he does not expect to see the overall turnout edging past 15 percent. ''I hope I am 100 percent wrong,'' he said.

During the early voting period, which ended last week, 23,375 of the state's 2.8 million voters cast ballots, a major factor that led Dardenne to call for a low turnout.

Washington state

Thousands of ballots have already been thrown out in Washington, according to the AP:

Thousands of ballots being cast in Washington's presidential preference primary are invalid because voters aren't signing a ballot oath identifying themselves as a Democrat or a Republican, Secretary of State Sam Reed said Friday.

Story continues below

Early on Saturday people were scrambling to find the location of their caucus, according to the Seattle Times. The problem: The Democrats online "caucus finder" is apparently overwhelmed.

Delegates at stake:

Dems:

A total of 158 delegates [are] at stake in the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington. Caucuses in the Virgin Islands offered three more.

GOP:
The Republicans have 74 convention delegates at stake.

Read more here

Advantage?
Does either Democratic candidate have advantage in today's contests. According to ABC News:

Saturday begins a campaign stretch where the contests appear to favor Obama, D-Ill., who has fared better in states with caucuses (as will occur Saturday in Washington state, Nebraska, and the Virgin Islands) and with large African-American populations (Louisiana, which holds primaries).

Today's Big Democratic Contest
Washington state, with its 78 pledged delegates, is today's big prize, according to the New York Times.

Delegate Count

News organizations differ over whether Obama or Clinton currently have the advantage in terms of delegates.

AP says Obama leads by 2.

ABC, meanwhile, concludes:

Clinton [is] holding a narrow, 77-delegate advantage with more than 2,000 already awarded -- an edge that could be erased by the time all of Super Tuesday's votes are counted. Other media outlets have the race even tighter.

Read the New York Times explanation of why media outlets can't agree on the delegate account.

Comments

[OhPlease2007]

. . . Test for echo.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

go down and read the links in my reply to your previous post, if you're bored.

[JiminNC]

Thsi Hillary bashing should stop. The truth is that much of the Clinton negatives are fabrications from Roveland.

Respectfully, I think Obama beats her head to head on honesty and integrity. That should be clear to any sober observer. She has more understanding of the inner workings of the White House and as someone said recently, so does the pastry chef at the White House.

I really believe there are many Clinton supporters that are wavering in the depths of their minds but to push the buttons of intelligent people over and over again only shortens the gap they are willing to cross.

I will admit that I have great difficulty responding intelligently to people who attack Obama. That is because I believe myself to be correct and intelligent enough to make such a determination. Giving other people with different ideas the same respect makes Barack's message more accessible. That is his message.

[NewFrontier]

Now that Romney dropped out the likelyhood of crossover voting in the democratic primaries increased. But given Hillary's moderate to republican party status, I can't for the life of me figure out why so many of them seem to be voting for Obama unless they expect racism will be the factor, as usual among evangelical males.

But then, the current Republican base -- being composed mostly of right-wing authoritarian followers -- is not particulary noted for being rational.

Huck staying in the race seems to be working at cross-purposes with the cross-over strategy, given his right-wing evangelical status, which only goes to show you that there IS NO Republican strategy at this point. Staying in keeps interest alive in the Republican candidate....what's his name? McLame, or something. If McLame has to ride alone through the rest of the primary season, people will forget him completely and go for the real Republican candidate who will keep big money lobbies and the war machine rolling in the dough and congress in their own corrupt vomit....that would be Hillary, of course, the most viable Republican candidate.

Look for Lieberman, the Mossad agent in CONneticut, to hustle both Hillary and McLame for a place on the ticket.

[Johnbo]

My caucus in Seattle experinced a 25% increase over the overwhelming turnout from 4 years ago. Of that group, 75% went for Obama on the first round. I lobbied the undecided and the lone Gravel supporter to join me - the lone Kucinich supporter - to create enough of a block to garner one delegate position that would go to the next level as an "undecided" delegate and lobby for stronger progressive positions than either Hillary or Obama have taken. A few joined that call but most stayed put and we ended up sending four Obama delegates and one Clinton delegate to the next level.

[BokChoy]

MyMaineMike:
You mean Obama actually talked about policy? But the Clintonistas told me he never mentions policy! Just hot air. And we know HRC supporters drink at the fountain of truthiness.

[ConcernAmerican]

Washington state is different, you have to sign an oath and choose which party you're voting for 2008. Obama is asking voters in Washington to be a democrat for a day and caucus for him. If people don't choose a party, their vote is INVALID.

[Political Voyeur]

Why liberals are wrong on the Clintons.
http://politicalvoyeur.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-i-will-never-vote-for-hillary.html

[leftbehind2000]

"Thousands of ballots being cast in Washington's presidential preference primary are invalid because voters aren't signing a ballot oath identifying themselves as a Democrat or a Republican, Secretary of State Sam Reed said Friday. Early on Saturday people were scrambling to find the location of their caucus..."

WTF???

Every place has been overwhelmed so far - hasn't Washington been paying attention? Cripes.

[Rys4k]

I think it's inappropriate and undemocratic to be tossing these ballots. If they want to have an open primary, let all people vote, if they decide to have a closed primary, let only those who register a party affiliation vote (and allow them to switch said registration on the day of any ballot). But, to throw away ballots after allowing people to vote simply because they forget to assign an affiliation thats a meaningless label to them is just unjust.

I hope this debacle forces this issue to the forefront and the population of Washington demand of their elected officials that they modify the rules.

Cheers,
-Rys

[shockmagog]

New Mexico wasn't paying attention either:

'Rio Rancho: Two to Four Hour Wait to Vote'

http://www.nmfbihop.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=697

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

"Thousands of ballots have already been thrown out in Washington, according to the AP"

This headline is quite misleading regarding what it means for the Washington State delegate selection process. For most of the 20th century Washington State chose delegates in caucuses. A few years ago a primary was instigated, but it did not require party afillitaion. Both political parties objected and a federal court decided to require party registration. Washingtonians hate party registration and have been hollering about it since the decision.

It gets even weirder. The Republicans have decided to select one half of their delegates in today's caucuses and one half from the primary to be held next weekend.

The Democrats have decided to select all of their delegates in caucuses held today (02-09-08), so for the Democrats, the primary is of no real meaning.

I just returned from a caucus of six precincts in my Northwestern Washington State county, where we sent delegates into the convention selection process at a rate of two to one, in favor of Obama. I expect delegates to break stronger for Obama state-wide. Obama should get the lion's share of Washington State's 78 pledged delegates.

[ConcernAmerican]

That's their rule in Washington State. You have to sign an oath and choose which party, they only have two in the ballot. If you don't sign an oath, your vote is INVALID.

[johannesrolf]

previous muslim affiliation? you are outayourmind. he went to a muslim school when he was 6 to 8 years old.

that said, I would welcome muslim affiliation, a muslim in the white house? great. the are 1.6 BILLION muslims in the world. it's time we showed them some sympathy.

[janicen]

I just got back from a WA caucus. It was quite interesting. Our caucus chair was an Obama supporter and when he spoke, he made a point to welcome GOP members. I thought that was interesting. Within our precinct, we went through all of the mechanics and had a tie between the two candidates with four undecided. Two of the undecided changed to Hillary. Then, the caucus chair came over and said he was from our precinct and he was an Obama supporter and we needed to do our count and discussion over. Basically, start from scratch. One person spoke up because the caucus chair hadn't signed up yet and it was past the deadline. He said he had been too busy. It seemed a little disingenuous, almost like he was trying to disrupt our precinct vote. At that point, one of the two remaining undecided spoke up and said, "I think I've made up my mind, I'm voting for Hillary..." When the caucus chair realized that his tactic was turning the undecideds to Hillary, he stalked off.

[leftbehind2000]

wow - interesting story.

I caucused Tuesday here in Kansas, and there was simply a MOB of people there. The organizer said they were expecting under 100. What planet did they beam in from? Hard saying.

In the end,there were almost 1000 there (we each had a number assigned to us, and the highest one I saw walking around was 967). Clinton's camp ended up with 171 - so came intriguingly close to not getting the required 15%.

Not surprisingly, he process was extremely time consuming, messy and chaotic. I spent over 2 hours just getting registered. Got there around 6, and home close to 10pm. The very long wait coupled with cramped space no doubt discouraged anyone from forming an Edwards or Kucinich group. I would have possibly stood with an Edwards group just to do so, but no way after that much waiting.

All in all, not impressed with the caucus idea. It's my first one - I imagine a well-run caucus might be fun, but this one was a drag, other than an occasional interesting conversation with a fellow Dem.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

We were scrupulously fair in my caucuses. Too bad if you got a manipulator, but I see the will of the people prevailed as it usually does in caucuses.

[OhPlease2007]

With *more Democratic females voting* than men in this '08 nominee election, will the white-male misogyny demographic be enough to carry the day for the Obama camp?

... Somehow, we highly doubt it. ;)

[stumptownliberal]

Oh, I see, since I'm a man if I don't vote for Hillary I'm a misogynist. I guess that makes you a misanthrope.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

I have just returned from Washington State Democratic caucuses that favored Obama and if they broke along any lines it was somewhat by generations.

"The Times, They Are A Changin."

[thomdavis1]

Does that "white-male misogyny demographic" then include Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver, Kathleen Sebelius, Claire McCaskill, Alma Rangel, Chris Gregoire, Janet Napolitano, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Cho, and Susan Eisenhower (a Republican), et al?
I find it very troubling that Hillary supporters try to force allegiance to their candidate BECAUSE she is a female (the NOW chapter of New York should be ashamed of themselves).
I firmly believe the US would be a much better place if a woman ruled...but that means the RIGHT woman, and sorry, Hill ain't she!
It is time to break the dynastic Bush/Clinton cycle and let a Gen X'er lead us to a united, global 21st century!
GOBAMA!
{btw---Obama beats McLame by 8% in the CNN poll, and by 7% in the Time poll--all outside the poll's margin of error and therefore all giving Obama a win(check realclearpolitics.com)...Hillary is at +3% over McLame in the CNN and tied in the Time poll. As a Democratic party we must also consider who will get us back in the White House! As a Democrat I WOULD vote for Hillary if she got the nomination...but would anyone who is NOT a Democrat?}

[Space Monkey]

Funny my mother, two aunts, three sisters, sister-in-law, two female cousins and most of my female friends have all jumped ship to Obama. I always knew they were misogynist pigs.
GIRL POWER!

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Read something and educate yourself:

http://www.againsthillary.com/2008/01/10/hillary-holds-disdain-for-masculinity/

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/13/3145/

You were an EDWARDS supporter, and now you are a Clinstone, spouting the fallacy of misogyny against Hillary? How can you even support Hillary, after she took money from lobbyists, when Edwards and Obama did not! Do you know she has the same corporate backers as Bush?

[MyMaineMike]

I was just at the Obama Event in Bangor. The auditorium where he spoke was filled beyond capacity (7000 people in a 6000 seat building). 3,000 people were left to stand outside in the Maine cold. Before he spoke inside, Senator Obama spoke to the people outside, giving them a truncated version of his speech. I was surprised to see an astounding diversity of age groups at the event, independent of race or gender. Grandparents brought their grandkids. Parents came with their college student sons and daughters. This was not the young and idealistic crowd I was prepared for (though there were those types too).

There was nothing really new in the speech. His standard inspirational stump with the exception of some minor variations on energy policy and education. His position on Iraq got him a standing ovation from the baby-boomers in the crowd. Also, he received a strong response for his stated willingness in dealing with hostile nations.

Most notably there was no utterance to the "Yes We Can" cry that has given his campaign both positive and negative responses. All in all, if the demographics of the crowd are any evidence, Obama will have a great showing in Maine on Saturday.

[MyMaineMike]

Excuse me, Sunday:).

[MamaBird62]

I just got home from voting in my Washington caucus. The turnout was double what they expected, with lots of supporters for both candidates. Obama won my precinct. We all agreed to get behind the person who wins the nomination and defeat John McCain; that's the most important thing. The mutual respect was refreshing.

[MsLiz]

That is good news, MamaBird62. I wish we had more of that mutual respect going on Huffington Post.

[leftbehind2000]

Yeah - had to read that one twice. Mutual respect?

[mikekev58]

Outstanding, MamaBird62! It is heartening to know that perhaps what we read on HuffPo is not indicative of what is going on among Democrats in general.

[Bertrude]

Those Hillary supporters that keep saying the next 5 or 6 states do not matter need a wake up call. Why does Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina matter, because they set the tone. So by time we get to Texas and Ohio, Obama will have won 6 states straight and basically swept Febuary and have about a 20-12 lead in states and delegates, real delegates, not the super ones, hell he may lead despite the super delegates.

So he goes into Texas (which he is leading) with the momentum, with the money. Truth is there is no way either canidate will have enough delegates to win the nomination it is impossible.

So sit Michigan and Florida after the rules have been set, this would be a huge mistake. He is not just a canidate, he is a black man who has the chance to be the first black president. if she wins in any way that looks sneaky, it will go down in history. It is not racism rather politics and I agree, but we are political junkies. Think about the people who barely pay attention and what they will think, it will go down in black history as racisim, so I suggest they get together and work something out because I see a storm coming, one that has not been seen since 1968 in Chicago.

[thomdavis1]

I believe the people of Michigan and Florida definitely deserve to have a say in this process. However, their party leaders saw fit to break the rules of the party when they KNEW the consequences. I think both states should hold another, legitimate primary after every other state has voted where BOTH candidates will be on BOTH ballots and have equal time to campaign. It is what is fair.

[SidSchwab]

Just got back from the Washington caucus. In my precinct it was Obama 27, Clinton 7. But the main point is this: to the extent that ballots may have been thrown out as reported, it has NOTHING to do with today's caucus, which does not use those ballots. They are for later, and in the case of the Democrats, have no meaning in terms of delegate allocation. The reporters should have known, and noted it.

[Nic]

All of the delegates in FL and MI should be awarded to Clinton. She's the only one who cared enough to not remove her name from the ballots. Nobama claims he didn't campaign in FL, yet his ads were showing on cable tv. Very underhanded, considering he agreed not to.
Nobama is smoke,mirrors and a lot of blah blah blah in an empty suit.

[daveny]

As opposed to smoke, mirrors and a lot of blah blah blah in an empty pantsuit.

[stumptownliberal]

You Hillary supporters time and time again prove yourselves to be ill informed, rude and downright nasty. Clinton agreed, along with the other candidates mind you, that she would not campaign in either of those states because the DNC informed both FL and MI that since their primaries had been moved up in the cycle, their delegates would not be counted. Hillary violated her oath with her participation. What an honorable and trustworthy candidate you have.

[AnathemaZed]

She's a Clinton. 'Nuff said.

[naturesway]

You are wrong. Hillary and Edwards did not participate in any election activities in Fl or MI.
Only Obama broke the rules. Only Obama ran political ads when he wasn't supposed to.
Obama should be punished.
No excuses.

[newyorknewyork]

Typical Hillary supporter. You want to change the rules when they don't suit you anymore. You want to play dirty, anything to win.

And you WONDER why so many people can't stand the woman?

[thomdavis1]

And YOU, Nic, have to get over yourself. If you want to point fingers, Hillary appeared at a HUGE fundraising event in FL before the primary. No campaigning in that? As the Clintons like to say, "give me a break!" Obama was on the ballot in FL because those are the party rules in that state (all candidates were there including Edwards), in Michigan he took a pledge (as did Hillary) not to participate in that election, per the DNC rules. So...it is Hillary who is the snake oil/smoke/mirrors master here.