Obama Gets Convincing Wins in 3 States

And Obama charges on...

Senator Barack Obama won decisive victories over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska on Saturday, giving him an impressive sweep going into a month when the Democratic nominating contests are expected to favor him. The successes come just as Mr. Obama is building a strong advantage over Mrs. Clinton in raising money, providing important fuel for the nominating contests ahead. Still, the results were expected to do little to settle the muddle in the delegate race that resulted after the wave of contests last Tuesday in which the two candidates split up states from coast to coast.

Perception is important here, and - having proved that he can still raise money at a time when Hillary is lending to her own campaign - Obama's recent victories in primarily white states show that the momentum in the Democratic race is behind him as opposed to his rival.

While Mr. Obama had been expected to win the contests on Saturday, the margin of victories were surprising, particularly in Nebraska and Washington, which offered the day’s biggest trove of delegates. In both states, he captured 68 percent of the vote in caucuses, compared with Mrs. Clinton’s roughly 32 percent.

“We won in Louisiana, we won in Nebraska, we won in Washington state,” Mr. Obama said at the Virginia Democrats’ Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Richmond, Va. “We won North, we won South, we won in between. And I believe that we can win in Virginia on Tuesday if you’re ready to stand for change.”

Because the Democrats award delegates proportionally, Clinton can expect to take some delegates from these contests, so there is some small comfort for her. Which is more than can be said for John McCain, who lost to Mike Huckabee in Kansas and Louisiana, with results still to come in from Washington state.

There has been pressure put on Huckabee and Ron Paul to step down in order to allow the party to "unite"- that's a very funny phrase when applied to the Republicans and John McCain - but Huckabee is not having any of it.

"Am I quitting? Let's get that settled right now. No, I'm not," he said.

"I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them."

I know that the Malkin's and Limbaugh's of this world are simply incandescent with rage at the thought of John McCain representing them at the next election, but I wonder if they would seriously prefer Mike Huckabee?

But there is a palpable difference in the excitement being generated on the Democratic side, with huge crowds flocking to the voting booths:

On Saturday, with the contest so close, excitement ran high, as did turnout.

In Nebraska, The Omaha World-Herald reported that organizers at two caucus sites had been so overrun by crowds that they abandoned traditional caucusing and asked voters to drop makeshift scrap-paper ballots into a box instead. In Sarpy County, in suburban Omaha, traffic backed up on Highway 370 when thousands of voters showed up at a precinct where organizers had planned for hundreds.

In Washington, the Democratic party reported record-breaking numbers of caucusgoers, with early totals suggesting turnout would be nearly be nearly double what it was in 2004 — itself a record year — when 100,000 Democrats caucused.

To be fair, Clinton had expected to lose these contests, something which cannot be said about McCain's losses to Huckabee.

The results on the Republican side provided some surprise, particularly since Mr. Huckabee’s showings in Kansas and Louisiana came as Mr. McCain seemed headed to the nomination.

Mr. Huckabee declared that the voters had been heard from. “They spoke with one voice,” he said. “They said I am the authentic conservative in this race.”

They say you should be careful what you wish for as you might just get it; in the case of an "authentic conservative" like Huckabee, Malkin and Limbaugh should take note.

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Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Democratic presidential nomination, US election 2008