|
Obama, Clinton in tight race
01/05/2008 14:08 - (SA)
Steven R Hurst
Washington - Barack Obama and rival Hillary Rodham Clinton are battling for Democratic superdelegates, scoring three new supporters each in their bitter nomination fight likely to be decided by this crucial group.
Clinton is counting on the superdelegates - nearly 800 party officials and lawmakers free to vote as they choose at the party's nominating convention - to overcome Obama's unassailable lead in pledged delegates.
But, regardless of a gain of three each on Wednesday, her lead in superdelegates has dwindled by nearly half in two months, even as she has rallied in the White House race with some big state primary wins and Obama has struggled to avoid fallout from his former pastor's controversial remarks.
Superdelegates have become central to the race and poised to decide the Democratic nominee because neither Clinton nor Obama is likely to accumulate the necessary 2 025 delegates by the end of the primary season in early June.
At the close of business Wednesday, Clinton led the superdelegate sweepstakes 264-243. But overall, committed superdelegates included, Obama held a 134-delegate advantage, 1 731.5 to 1 598.5.
She would need to virtually sweep the nine remaining contests by 20-point margins to overcome Obama's current lead. But pre-vote polling shows him well ahead in Tuesday's North Carolina primary, with the Indiana contest the same day seen as a toss-up.
If the uncommitted superdelegates were to override the Obama lead - which is almost unassailable - that would put the party hierarchy at odds with Democratic voters and could further deepen the Democratic split.
A new Associated Press-Ipsos poll already shows many backers of both Clinton and Obama saying they would support Republican Senator John McCain if their candidate does not take the nomination.
The most recent Gallup national tracking poll, however, showed Clinton with a statistically insignificant 1-point lead over Obama, down from his 10-percentage point advantage going into last week's Pennsylvania primary, where Clinton won handily.
Obama has suffered mightily among white working-class voters over the controversy driven by remarks of his former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who said from the pulpit that God should damn America for it's treatment of blacks.
The Illinois senator was further hurt by disclosure of his own remarks at a private fundraising event where he said working-class Americans were clinging to guns and religion as their living standards plummet.
Clinton said Wednesday she found Wright's remarks "offensive and outrageous" and noted that Obama had spoken out forcefully against them.
"I think that he made his views clear, finally, that he disagreed. And I think that's what he had to do," Clinton said in an interview with Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly.
It was the former first lady's first appearance on the O'Reilly show, the most popular Fox News programme and a staple of conservative media. Over the years, O'Reilly has been a staunch critic of both the New York senator and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
|
News
