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Obama Moves on to General Election Before Primaries Conclude

May 26, 2008 9:39 PM

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was campaigning in New Mexico today, and this week he will also hit Nevada and Colorado.

These are states that have already held their primaries -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won New Mexico, she won Nevada, though Obama won more delegates, and Obama won Colorado.

Is the Democratic primary season over? No, it's not. But Obama is signaling that he has moved on to the general election.

Puerto Rico and its 55 pledged delegates are up for grabs Sunday, and Montana and South Dakota will hold their contests -- with a combined 31 pledged delegates available -- on Tuesday, June 3. Obama will spend time in all three states, but he will also be spending time in these general election states, instead of spending time in the primary states.

So, is it presumptuous for Obama to be campaigning in states other than the three holding contests this week?

Depends who you ask.

Certainly the math is tough, if not impossible, for Clinton.

But then again, what signal does it send that Obama is taking time he could be spending in PR, MT, and SD, focused on the general election? Certainly that signal is something his campaign wants to be sending. They want everyone, especially the media and the 200-plus uncommitted superdelegates, to say this is all over.

But we don't know what the Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws committee will decide to do on Saturday, when it rules on the Michigan and Florida contests.

The ruling will likely mean the number of delegates needed to win the nomination will change.

And what happens if 900,000 Puerto Ricans turn out on Sunday and vote 70-30 for Clinton? Won't that seriously buttress her popular vote argument so that she doesn't have to rely on that fuzzy math where she gives herself 320,000 votes from Michigan and gives Obama zero?

And what happens if Obama doesn't win Montana or South Dakota, states he's expected to put in his column? Will he regret his time in Las Cruces?

The math is the math, yes, but Obama acting as if this is all a done deal certainly might rub some Democrats the wrong way. What say you? Is he being arrogant or pragmatic? Presumptuous or wise?

- jpt

May 26, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (273)

User Comments

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A few unpopular decisions by President Obama and the love affair and fanatical fans will quickly fade.

He won't have Hillary or racist or his campaign to blame for his gaffes...
Obama's weaknesses,inexperience, extreme left views will be exposed and America loses.

We have to vote Hillary or McCain to protect America.

Posted by: cindy in nc | May 27, 2008 11:21:29 AM

Me says time is running out and if Obama gets saddled with the general as he hopes to be, he should start cutting into the fabric at this time because he definitely has a lot of work to do, more so than any other presidential candidate. There are many rumors to dispel, misconceptions and his own mistakes to repair so I say, get on with it.

Posted by: therookie | May 27, 2008 10:35:57 AM

Barry does not matter how early you start, you are unelectable!
Time for you to find your favorite pew and do what ever with your REV WRIGHT!

Posted by: HP Boston | May 27, 2008 10:33:04 AM

George Stephanopolous is predicting that Hillary will betray and abandon all her loyal supporters and drop out of the race, and endorse Barack Obama, probably within the next ten days or so.

Posted by: Lee C.   ―   U.S.A.    | May 27, 2008 10:05:36 AM

Support the troops. Support Webb's ver GI Bill!

Posted by: Old Soldier | May 27, 2008 10:01:52 AM

Javo, The DNC cant wait to have Obama as its nominee. He is the money machine!!!!

Posted by: Jamie | May 27, 2008 9:52:34 AM

TK: No one is telling you to sell your soul. If your candidate doesn't win the nomination and you don't like the other one then you either don't vote, write you candidate in or vote republican. What do you think the battleground states are going to do that wouldn't give Obama their votes. Don't you think many of them are going to vote for McCain. They didn't vote Obama because they don't want him as president. And I don't blame them. How stupid can he be to tell Castro he would not lift the embargo when he isn't even the president yet. And to say he would sit down with Hamas and discuss terms. Do we want a world war III? If he is elected Hamas, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda will be dancing in the streets because they already know about him that's why they want him elected. They know that he's a no nothing and they will be planning their next attack. If that happens he will run and hide somewhere.

Posted by: Mariann Pepitone | May 27, 2008 9:52:01 AM

Yes, I suggest all you Hillary supporters call the DNC and refuse to send money. If you have such powers over the DNC, why is your candidate $21 million in debt as of May 20th?.

Posted by: Jamie

==========================================

What does the DNC have do with Clinton's campaign funding in the Primary? Absolutely NOTHING.

However, lack FUTURE contributions to the DNC are another matter entirely.

Posted by: Yavo Lem | May 27, 2008 9:47:23 AM

Mariann Pepitone

i support obama and hillary but geeeeeeeeesh to say obama has a lot of money.. hell hillary kitchen cost more than 2 million dollars.

if some republican is paying you your not earning your money!

As to obama being trounced by clinton.. yeah look at where he got trounced and look at the kind of voters that trounced him! Those voters wouldnt vote for a democrat because their snake handlin preachers would send them to hell.

Hillary is a good candidate but Obama ran off 12 straight victories in a row.

your argument is mute!

Posted by: EddienTexas | May 27, 2008 9:42:42 AM

Just for the record:

1.) I am not a "spammer". What I post, while in standard format, is updated every day, if necessary.

2.) I am not a paid blogger for anyone.

3.) If the truth hurts, that is not my problem.

4.) Someone working for ABC has developed a fondness for deleting some of my posts. Is this person perhaps a stealth Obama operative, or is in some other way biased?

Posted by: Yavo Lem | May 27, 2008 9:42:37 AM

Yes, I suggest all you Hillary supporters call the DNC and refuse to send money. If you have such powers over the DNC, why is your candidate $21 million in debt as of May 20th?.

Posted by: Jamie | May 27, 2008 9:41:13 AM

no more drama vote obama

Honestly Im not sure if there are any real women democrats posting.

I think most of these "women democrats" are just Republicans playing the rush limbaugh game on most of the blogs.

Either that or they have absolutely no clue as to how party politics work.

As a true democrat if these women are real and that is how they really feel I would hope and pray that Hillary isnt anything like them.

But most likely they are just entry level political soundboards and most likely wont even vote.

The real democrats will get the job done along with fed up moderate republicans and independents. Its a long way to November and for once the democratic 527,s have in McCain a real easy target.

Posted by: EddienTexas | May 27, 2008 9:34:23 AM

After watching this race play out over the last few weeks, I have totally lost respect for the Clinton's. They have injected racism, sexism, terrorism and murder into their campaign. They have ruined their political careers.

Posted by: WHITE FEMALE VOTER | May 27, 2008 9:28:38 AM

Barnie: When you say uneducated Hillary supporters are you talking about the college students that had to drop out because they couldn't master the courses? And the college students that are in jobs making less than bus drivers do. You don't read too well. Obama is a pauper's millionaire, with about 2 million to his name compared to every other senator in the senate. And he got a lot of cash from Rezko for his dirty work as an attorney. Yes, he can lose the election to McCain if Hillary declares herself as an independent and take thousands of votes away from him. And I hope she is smart enough to do that instead of thinking about the democrats getting the white house back. This campaign has been a dirty game since Obama got into it and it is a dog eat dog campaign so she should go for the bone and let McCain win. Hillary was brought up as a republican in her younger days but became democrat when she married Bill Clinton. I am a democrat but I don't like dirty pool and I believe Obama went behind the scenes to get votes from the superdelegates for favors. He learned how to wheel and deal when he was an attorney for crooked Rezko.

Posted by: Mariann Pepitone | May 27, 2008 9:27:57 AM

Mariann Pepitone wrote:

"If Hillary..."

No use..she's broke and would have make up the deficit of $30 million before she could even think about printing a bumper sticker. She may be smart but a poor manager. Still, if she were the nom, she'd get my vote.

Posted by: debbie cho | May 27, 2008 9:22:50 AM

obama ia a whiney wimp.

Posted by: trettine | May 27, 2008 9:19:41 AM

Obama is doing exactly what he has to do-moving forward.

Posted by: Jamie | May 27, 2008 9:17:06 AM

Mariann Pepitone

incorrect facts but no prob

John McCain not quite the big tortured war hero we hear about.

Fact - John McCain didnt receive any promotions as a prisioner of war.(reason is he violated the code of conduct for a US POW)

Fact - John McCain conduct at the naval accademy was so poor he would have been thrown out had his father not been a high ranking well connected Admiral

Fact - John McCain cheated on his former wife by having an affair with the now CINDY MCCAIN

Fact - All the pow's held at the same North Vietnamese POW camp stated they were never tortured by their captors nor did they believe John McCain was.

Fact - John McCain was considered for courtmartial do this his actions as a POW but once again his admiral daddy helped him out.

Fact - John McCain lived a very upscale youth(admirals are far from poor) can we say elitist?

ok fire back and i got plenty more and i got them all from the Bush 2000 election research.. GEORGE W BUSH did do one thing right.. HE PEGGED MCCAIN FOR JUST EXACTLY WHAT HE IS!

Posted by: EddienTexas | May 27, 2008 9:11:21 AM

2/11/2008

Obama and Clinton Campaigns Agree that Superdelegates Should Vote for Who They Think Would be the Strongest Candidate for the Party

Top Obama Strategist Axelrod on Superdelegates

From this morning on NBC:

LAUER: Let me ask you about superdelegates. A lot of discussion about the role they're going to play in all this by the time it's over and the debate being whether they should vote out of loyalty to a candidate, particularly if they're elected officials, or whether they should vote the way their state or district votes.

So, when it comes to Senators John Kerry and Senator Ted Kennedy, should they vote for had Barack Obama because they've endorsed him or should they vote for Hillary Clinton because the state of Massachusetts voted for Hillary Clinton?

AXELROD: I think that the role of the superdelegate is to act as, sort of, a party elder. These are elected officials from across the country and they're supposed to exercise their judgment as to what would be best for the party. And as they look at this, they need to decide who would be the strongest candidate for the party…

LAUER: David, you're not answering. Should those two senators vote for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?

AXELROD: I think they and all the superdelegates should vote according to what they think is best for the party and the country. And I think that we need the strongest possible candidate against John McCain…

Posted by: Yavo Lem | May 27, 2008 9:11:08 AM

This new found love for visiting battleground states is another example of Obama arrogance.One million plus voters are yet to cast their votes this weekend and next week.But then,when did counting all votes ever matter to him.It is all about using fuzzy math and becoming the nominee and have a nice convention SPEECH.

Posted by: vic | May 27, 2008 9:08:41 AM

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