Wednesday, February 13, 2008

O(bama) Snap!


Winning all three of the Potomac Primaries, Obama has proved that he has the momentum in this race and is a force to be reckoned with. Not only is this good news for those of us who are fans of Obama, but it is phenomenal news for all of Ohio. It means that we have become the next real battleground state (along with Texas) on March 4--see the link above for the CNN article.

(Note: I have become so excited and involved in thinking about this election that I actually had a dream last night in which I was voting on March 4 and was so frustrated with all the people around me who didn't know that the primary was going on or how to vote...nerdy, I know...)

Though Clinton is far from out of the race, it will be very important for her to garner the support of the Latino population especially. Like California, there needs to be a huge turnout for her to get the leg-up that she needs in this race. Unfortunately for Clinton, at least in the past couple days, when Obama wins...he wins big. Whereas when she wins, Obama still manages to get enough support that it tugs away at her delegate numbers. With the exception of the few "winner take all" states, this is detrimental to the Clinton strategy.

In 2000, we had a question about the legitimacy and beneficial nature of the Electoral College because of the outcome of the election. It seems a race like this between Clinton and Obama might call into question the ability of the overly-complicated Democratic primary system to really choose the best candidate for the general election in the fall. Then again, it could fall by the wayside just like the electoral college questions 8 years ago...

~Briana

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