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Obama Says General Election Starts After Tuesday's Results

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May 28, 2008 10:56 PM

ABC News' Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama has high hopes for the results of the last primary contests on Tuesday: He believes that will likely mark the start of the general election.

Asked aboard his plane returning to Chicago from Colorado if the general election will begin after Tuesday’s voting in South Dakota and Montana, Obama answered in one word: "Yes."

Obama said he believes at that point he will be the nominee. But with three primary contests left -- Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday -- Obama is still couching his prognosis ever so slightly.

"You know, it’s technically not over until we have the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination," Obama said of the 2026 delegates needed. "Once we have that number, we will focus on the general election."

The Obama campaign has no doubt been running a general election campaign for the last few weeks: campaigning in general election states and singling out the presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain more than his Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton -– a strategy that caused some to question the patience of a candidate that is still involved in a battle for the democratic nomination.

"We are only a few days away," Obama told reporters. "We have waited this long. We can wait a while longer."

May 28, 2008 in Kucinich, Dennis | Permalink | User Comments (359)

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Let's face it, half the country supports Obama and half support Hillary. I will vote for whoever because I hate the republican policies.

Posted by: lisa | May 28, 2008 11:02:52 PM

Mr. Obama still needs to learn to zip up his pants after he goes potty. He wants to start the general election before the primary is over. With this kind of thoughtless risk taking he shows he is not ready for the Presidency.
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Obama and BitterGate, we shall not forget!
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Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | May 28, 2008 11:12:06 PM

I'm not sure if Hillary is still a democrat.

Posted by: Dusty | May 28, 2008 11:15:55 PM

Hillary, the popular vote doesn't count. This is just more Hillary math again. And sorry but West Va and Kentucky will vote for McCain in the GE plus they are racists and that is why you won by such a large margin.
You thought this nomination was owed to you from the beginning, what arrogance. Sorry it's not working out the way you wanted.

Posted by: zz | May 28, 2008 11:20:24 PM

Dusty,
Take a look at the politics tab on ABC News. Apparently over 17 million Democrats disagree with you but YOU must be right. Fact is, the word is out that the DNC will be counting half of Florida and Michigan's delegates, which means that the popular vote now counts, and Hillary has had more people pull the lever for her than any other candidate in the history of the United States nominating elections. It's time for the remaining superdelegates to move forward in favor of Hillary Clinton.
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Only Hillary Clinton stood up for all the voters!
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Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | May 28, 2008 11:21:11 PM

The Soros-McClellan Connection (LGF)

Wed, May 28, 2008 at 7:28:40 pm PST

The hat tip for this post goes to LGF reader John Williams in Texas.

The company that published Scott McClellan’s new Bush-bashing book is Public Affairs Books, and their Editor at Large is a guy named Peter Osnos: About The Century Foundation.

The owner of Public Affairs Books is a company called Perseus Book Group. Here’s their ownership tree: Perseus Books Home.

The firm is owned by Perseus Funds Group, (holding company Perseus LLC) a capital management firm that grew from about $20 million in 1995 to over $2 billion now. Big infusions of cash seemed to help it grow exponentially and it closed funds almost as fast as it opened them. The board has tons of liberals from the Clinton and Carter Administrations with credentials that almost put Osnos’ to shame as far as far left causes go. Their website is here: PERSEUS - merchant bank and private equity fund management.

If you go to the New York Department of State web site and enter “Perseus” in the “Business Organization” search, you get this on page 2 of the results

Posted by: Henry | May 28, 2008 11:21:32 PM

Arlen Spector is threatening to sue the DNC for violating a persons most fundamental right. The right to have their one voice and vote heard.

Oh Yeah! He's going to bankrupt the DNC. Couldn't happen to a better bunch of party insiders. Throw the bums out! Take back our party.......

Posted by: SadStateOfAffairs | May 28, 2008 11:23:43 PM

*FLASH*
I just heard on FOX Hillary will drop out tomorrow.

Posted by: flash | May 28, 2008 11:26:46 PM

"Something Is Rotten in the State of Denmark." Could it be Soros? Soros backs Obama, not Hillary. Why?

Posted by: dilbert | May 28, 2008 11:26:52 PM

Barack mis-spoke......as usual. Delegates needed will be at a minimum 2210. More if FL and MI are fully reinstated. What a con man.

Posted by: SadStateOfAffairs | May 28, 2008 11:33:27 PM


The democratic party is a vry fragile.
It splits very easy.It's a group of
different people with different
backgrounds.
It's very hard to unite the party
this year.
Hillary's supporters WILL NOT vote
for Obama.
It's very easy for a democrat to vote
republican than the other way around.
So republicans will win AGAIN this
november regerdless how unpopular is
the president.

Posted by: Nicholas | May 28, 2008 11:34:24 PM

Hillary is the only candidate who can beat McCain in November.

Virtually every poll (Gallup Daily Tracking, Quinnipiac, Rasmussen) has her beating McCain in the key swing states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Obama, on the other hand, trails McCain.

By the end of the primary process, Hillary will have won more of the popular vote than any Democratic candidate in history, and she’s significantly a head of both McCain and Obama in electoral votes. In fact, in key swing states like Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, West Virginia and Arkansas, she beats McCain handily in electoral votes. Obama does not. He trails McCain by 25 points in those states. If Obama is the nominee, he’ll lose in the G.E.

Hillary’s base of support includes Latino’s Older Americans, rural voters, and women, but it isn’t relegated just to these groups. Over 17 Million people have voted for Hillary in the primaries- young and old, highly educated and less educated, urban and rural, male and female. Her supporters will never give up, and they’ll never vote for Obama.

Posted by: Emily | May 28, 2008 11:35:21 PM

As goes Pennsylvania and Ohio so goes the nation. Why will the DNC put in the weaker candidate who cannot win in November?

Obama already put Paul Tewes in from Hildebrand and Tewes to orchestrated his win in the Iowa caucus. This was sheer strategy from day one to give Obama the nomination affirmative action candidate. Tewes is said to have taken over the day to day operations from Dean and that his days are numbered. This is Obama coup de tat. The Party taken from the people. Don't give one dime ever to the DNC or any Democrats who constituents voted overwhelmingly for Hillary and Obama got the pledge, i.e. Byrd in WV, etc.

Never never Hussein, if not Hillary, then vote McCain.

There will be no party loyalty only loyalty to candidates.

Posted by: Jessica | May 28, 2008 11:37:44 PM

FYI zz:

A recent Rasmussen General Election Match-Up poll for KENTUCKY shows:

Hillary +9 over McCain

McCain +25 over Obama.

So much for your theory that all "racist" states will vote McCain.

Posted by: SandyB | May 28, 2008 11:39:21 PM

Dilbert, I agree, it is very disturbing that Soros is backing Obama and not Hillary. Is there anything that can be done to find out more about why Soros is so behind Obama? What does Obama owe Soros and since Obama is so inexperienced who knows how big an influence Soros will have on Obama should he become President. Very Very disturbing. Just hope Hillary can beat the odds and win the nomination for the sake of the Nation.

Posted by: Sam | May 28, 2008 11:40:24 PM

Nicholas I am a Hillary supporter and I hope she wins the nomination. But if Obama should win I will vote for him. The republicans make me ill with this war. They deceived us. And McCain agrees with Bush on this. I just can't vote for another Bush. Voting for McCain means more war.

Posted by: elle | May 28, 2008 11:40:31 PM

This is a tactic to depress voter turnout in upcoming primaries.

I hope that he will lose all three contests. Then we will what happens.

Posted by: Joan | May 28, 2008 11:40:52 PM

So now it is up to Barack Obama when the General Election "officially" begins.

Will this man't ego never sleep???

Posted by: SandyB | May 28, 2008 11:45:55 PM

zz, there you go again, playing the race card. We, like Hillary and Bill, have spent our entire lives working for equality of the races. Stop taking those backward steps! In spite of your claim, the popular vote is the biggest determinant in the General Election. It determines the electoral votes of each state. Hillary has won the big states that can be expected to vote Democrat. Obama has won so-called "red" states, largely by caucuses which do not clearly reflect the will of the voters.

Does the DNC really want to lose this election?

Posted by: georgia | May 28, 2008 11:46:01 PM

Hillary is behind by 162 & almost half million popular votes.
There are very few Pledged delegates (around 70) left in the remaining three primaries.
None of the candidates is so weak to lose half million votes as a result of primaries in PR, MO & SD.
FL & MI votes, PD's and the supers will not be handed over to one candidate.
It will probably divided equally.

Posted by: Perf Lead | May 28, 2008 11:54:04 PM

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