Illinois senator Barack Obama is a man on a mission. For the very first time in the grueling nomination campaign ahead of the 2008 US Presidential elections, Barack Obama has overtaken bitter Democrat rival senator Hillary Clinton in the number of delegates for the Democratic National Convention to be held in Denver in August. With eight straight victories in a row, Obama- son of a Kenyan father and a white mother-is now a hot favourite to become the Democratic challenger for the US Presidency; although Hillary Clinton should not be written off by any means as this fascinating contest between two charismatic yet contrasting personalities set to battle out in the next big test in the primary season when Texas and Ohio vote on March 4.
One factor that makes Obama a potential favourite to battle it out against a Republican rival(in this case most probably John McCain)when the nation votes for the next President of the United States is that many of the superdelegates who have so far been behind senator Clinton have either switched to the Obama camp or remained neutral after senator Obama’s eighth consecutive win in just one week. This is a blow to the Clinton camp as the superdelegates, members of the party establishment, are historically loyal to former President Bill Clinton but maybe, Barack Obama is on his way for an American change. A delgate count until this morning has shown that Obama has the support of 1,260 delegates, including superdelegates, against Hillary Clinton’s 1,221. David Plouffe, Obama campaign manager believes Mrs.Clinton cannot catch up with her rival without the help of the superdelegates. In a media conference, Mr.Plouffe said,
Yet, the Hillary camp is pinning its hopes on the delegate-rich primaries of Texas and Ohio and many strategists believe that the Clintons are clever enough to concentrate their well-organised campaign on these two very important states right now without giving too much attention on the current Obama juggernaut for these two primaries would send a large delegations to Denver come August. Make no mistake there is still a twist in the tale left in the Democratic battle and it is anyone’s game now.We believe it’s next to impossible for Senator Clinton to close that pledged delegate count. The only way she could do it is winning most of the rest of the contests by 25 to 30 points and we see not a single contest on the calendar left where we would expect her to win by those kind. of margins.
Source: The Independent
