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Namibia: Clinton, Obama Face New Tests in White House Duel
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
7 May 2008
Posted to the web 7 May 2008
John Whitesides
Washngton
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton faced a crucial day in their gruelling White House fight yesterday, as millions of voters in Indiana and North Carolina cast ballots in the latest Democratic showdowns.
The two states, with a combined 187 delegates to the August nominating convention at stake, are the biggest prizes remaining in the tight race to see who will be the party's candidate in the November presidential election.
Only another six of the state-by-state contests are left.
Obama initially described Indiana as "the tiebreaker", but has since backtracked on his pronouncement as Clinton closed in the polls, which earlier showed him leading in the Hoosier state.
This week the two candidates have been clinched in a virtual tie, with some polls giving Obama a three per cent edge.
Now many analysts believe Obama could split the day by winning North Carolina and losing Indiana.
"I think it's going to be close.
I don't think anybody really knows exactly what's going to happen.
...
I'm seeing a lot of enthusiasm among the voters.
People are just really engaged and excited about this campaign and this process," he declared to reporters as he ate an omelette in Greenwood, Indiana, yesterday.
In North Carolina, which has a large African American population, Obama has been up to 26 per cent ahead in the polls.
Twin losses could be disastrous for Clinton, who is vying to become the first female US president.
The New York senator and former first lady has cut Obama's advantage in North Carolina in some polls over the past few weeks.
"Obviously we hope to do as well as we can, but, you know, we started out pretty far behind," Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane late on Monday.
"I never feel confident; I just try to do the best I can."
OBAMA LEADS Obama, an Illinois senator, has an almost unassailable lead in pledged delegates - excluding two key states crucial to the Democrats in a general election, Florida and Michigan, which have been sidelined for now - who will help select the Democratic nominee to face Republican John McCain in November.
If Obama wins in both Indiana and North Carolina, it would likely end Clinton's slender hopes of overtaking him in either delegates or popular votes won in the nomination battle.
Clinton victories in both states could fuel doubts about Obama's electability and persuade some superdelegates - party insiders free to back any candidate at the nominating convention - to move toward her.
Neither can win enough delegates to clinch the race before voting ends on June 3, leaving the decision to the nearly 800 superdelegates.
A split decision would leave the race largely unchanged before the last six contests, with 217 delegates at stake.
Obama has struggled through a rough stretch after last month's loss to Clinton in Pennsylvania, dogged by a furore over his comments on "bitter" small-town residents, who he described as clinging to their guns and Bibles, and a controversy over his former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.
Obama, who would be the first black US president, has been backed by nine out of 10 black voters in other states, and is expected to benefit from a strong turnout in North Carolina, where African-Americans are set to make up more than one-third of those casting ballots in the Democratic primary.
The two Democrats, courting the working- and middle-classes suffering from an ailing economy and high gas prices, spent much of the past few days focusing on Clinton's proposal to lift the federal gasoline tax for the summer.
Obama and some economists claimed the plan was a political gimmick - although Obama has on at least three occasions in the past, but not during the primaries, suggested a similar plan.
They claimed it would save little money for most families, but Clinton launched an advertisement in both states questioning her rival's stance.
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Clinton says a suspension of the tax during June, July and August, when many Americans take vacations, would help people deal with record gas prices in a faltering economy.
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