Democratic Nominee: What Is In Store For Barack Obama And Hillary Clinton After Tuesday's Primaries
Pro-Clinton 527 Prepares For Pennsylvania Air War:
A new pro-Hillary Clinton group spent $830,000 airing ads Texas and Ohio in the run-up to her victory in the March 4 primaries. And the group has at least $300,000 in the bank to launch an expected air war on her behalf in Pennsylvania.
American Leadership Project raised a total of $1.2 million - $1 million of which came from AFSCME, which has endorsed Clinton - since Feb. 21, according to a report it filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission.
The group, run by longtime Clinton allies, is registered only under section 527 of the IRS code, not as a political committee with the FEC. That allows it to raise the huge contributions barred by federal law, but also bars it from explicitly urging a vote for or against Clinton, a New York senator, or her opponent in the Democratic presidential primary, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
Nancy Pelosi Is Confident Democrats Will Have A Nominee Before The Convention:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday now is not the time for superdelegates to wade into the fight over the Democratic presidential nomination. "I think the electoral process has to work its way," the California Democrat told reporters. "There are still many voters unheard from yet, and I think that our candidates both have the capacity to inspire, to bring out a big vote that will hold us in good stead in November, and I think that now is not the time for anybody to weigh in."
Pelosi said she was confident the nominee would be decided before the Democratic convention in August, and that she was "never among those who believed this would be resolved by now."
Hillary Hints At Sharing Ticket With Obama:
Hillary Rodham Clinton, fresh off big primary victories, hinted Wednesday at the possibility of sharing the Democratic presidential ticket with Barack Obama -- with her at the top. Obama played down his losses, stressing that he still holds the lead in number of delegates.
In a night that failed to clarify the Democratic race, John McCain clinched the Republican nomination. Clinton won primaries in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, halting Obama's winning streak. Obama won in Vermont.
Watch the video from CBS:
Obama Responds To Shared-Ticket Hint:
"We are just focused on winning the nomination. That is my focus. I respect Sen. Clinton. She has been a tenacious opponent. It is premature to talk about a joint ticket."
Clinton To Have Hard Time Overcoming Obama's Delegate Lead:
"Tonight we won three out of four contests and began a new chapter in this historical campaign," the victorious Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane.
But even if she wins every contest left, Clinton still would have a hard time overcoming Barack Obama's pledged delegate lead. In fact, her task got even harder because even though she won Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island Tuesday night, she didn't do much to close the delegate gap -- and with every contest that passes, the number up for grabs drops.
Obama Focuses On The Math:
Obama focused on the math while addressing supporters in Texas. "We have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning and we are on our way to winning this nomination," he said.
Clinton's best hope is to try to rack up big margins in the spring contests. Even her own advisers acknowledge Obama will probably win the two other states left this month -- Wyoming on Saturday and Mississippi next Tuesday. If she is able to continue turning voters against Obama in the races after that, she could plausibly clinch the nomination by persuading superdelegates to back her.
Read HuffPost's OffTheBus Superdelegate Investigation to find out more about the superdelegates who are likely to decide the Democratic nomination for president.
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Huffington Post | March 5, 2008 07:51 AM