Plouffe: Obama wins by gaining more states and more delegates

Here is the note released by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe as posted by Sam Graham-Felsen on the official blog:

Plouffe: Obama wins Super Tuesday by winning more states and more delegates

by Sam Graham-FelsenWednesday, February 06, 2008 at 04:26 AM

Campaign Manager David Plouffe...

By winning a majority of delegates and a majority of the states, Barack Obama won an important Super Tuesday victory over Senator Clinton in the closest thing we have to a national primary. From Colorado and Utah in the west to Georgia and Alabama in the south to Senator Clinton’s backyard in Connecticut, Obama showed that he can win the support of Americans of every race, gender, and political party in every region of the country. That’s why he’s on track to win Democratic nomination, and that’s why he’s the best candidate to defeat John McCain in November.

The next contests are right around the corner on Feb. 9, this Saturday, and I should say very cautiously that Barack Obama appears strong overall in the states and territory involved: Washington (97 delegates), Louisiana (67 delegates), Nebraska (31 delegates) and the Virgin Islands (9 delegates).

Our Moment is Now

Action Center


Obama Mobile

Obama News on Thursday

The Washington Post reports that the Obama campaign is concentrating on six small caucus states as part of its Tsunami Tuesday strategy.

Obama's staff believes that Obama's grassroots style and organizing is well suited to caucus-type elections after good performances in Iowa and Nevada. Three of the states targeted are Minnesota, Colorado and Kansas.

In Kansas, there are reports that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius might be ready to endorse Obama after she delivers the Democratic response to the State of the Union address on Monday.


Obama supporters get out the vote in South Carolina

The Importance of South Carolina

The most important move the Obama campaign can do now in preparation for Super Tuesday is to win South Carolina.

A win in the Palmetto State guarantees nationwide media coverage far exceeding any televisions ads the campaign could afford. Barack will have the "big mo" going into Tsunami Tuesday when 22 states pick the Democratic nominee.

If he loses there, people will say the Iowa win was a fluke. African Americans may see him as non-viable since he could not win a state in which they make up about half the Democratic electorate. There will be a lot of negative buzz about his electability.

The big task again, as with all other states except probably Illinois, will be to get out the vote, especially Obama's young supporters. The work requires voter contact, preferably person-to-person although robo-calls, radio ads and other mass media techniques can also help.



Action Center

Obama Mobile