The Osterley Times: Obama cuts Hillary's lead to Four Points as Kennedy Takes to the Road.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Obama cuts Hillary's lead to Four Points as Kennedy Takes to the Road.

Hillary Clinton's eleven point lead has been cut to just four points by Barack Obama ahead of the Super Tuesday vote in the United States. The latest polling was also taken before the televised debate two days ago and before John Edwards dropped out of the race.

In the televised debate, Clinton and Obama, both conscious of the damage done to their campaigns and the Democratic party by their exchange of barbs in the last debate more than a week ago, were polite towards one another.
Both opted for safety first, with Clinton not wanting to endanger her poll lead with a gaffe and Obama not wanting to risk the momentum building behind him.
Obama stressed he had been opposed to the Iraq war from the beginning, unlike Clinton who voted for it in the senate. She probably scored over him on domestic issues, such as health, on which she demonstrated a stronger grasp of detail.
They both gave polite replies when asked about whether they would be prepared to unite to fight the November election as a team, with one as the presidential candidate and one the vice-president.
"Well, obviously there's a big difference between those two," Obama joked. Pressed further, he said: "Hillary would be on anybody's shortlist."
But sources in both camps yesterday suggested that there was no real prospect of what many Democrats regard as a "dream team" and that neither would be prepared to accept second best.

It's a real shame that they won't eventually form a dream ticket, but I suppose it's not really a surprise. Neither of these two is going to be content to play second fiddle to the other.

Meanwhile Ted Kennedy has taken to the stumps for Obama and is said to be drawing huge crowds:

“It’s like when Tony Bennett suddenly became hip again after the kids discovered him,” observed Bill Carrick, a Democratic strategist and former Kennedy aide who attended the rally. “It’s the same thing with Kennedy. He’s MTV now. And instead of jazz clubs, he’s doing the Hollywood Bowl.”

And, interestingly, Kennedy appears to be taking the same kind of role for himself as Bill Clinton is taking in Hillary's campaign: lobbying heavy punches so the candidate doesn't have to:

He rarely mentioned Hillary Rodham Clinton by name, but veiled shots were unmistakable. He praised Mr. Obama’s experience, resisting the big-money law firm jobs out of law school to work as a community organizer.

“Now that’s the kind of experience I want,” Mr. Kennedy said, a clear reference to Mrs. Clinton’s mantra about her “35-years of experience.” He praised Mr. Obama’s willingness to play a visible role in the debate over immigration (implying Mrs. Clinton did not) and opposing the Iraq war from the beginning (ditto).

Meanwhile Obama himself is covering the rest of the country like a dervish:

On Tuesday, he touched down in his grandfather's home town, El Dorado, Kan., where many residents did not realize until recently -- if at all -- that Obama has Kansas roots. From there, it was on to big rallies in Kansas City, Mo.; Denver; and Phoenix, followed by Los Angeles, where he tried during an hour in East L.A. to make an impression on Hispanic voters who know little about him. On Friday: Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Boise.

And, unlike Rudy Giuliani in Florida, the more Obama campaigns the more people seem to like him.

In each of the first four states where voting was sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, Clinton maintained essentially level support in polls in the months leading up to the contests, while Obama saw a steady upward trajectory the more he campaigned.