Obama Picks Up More Delegates in Iowa
DES MOINES, Iowa — Democrat Barack Obama expanded his fragile lead in delegates over rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday, picking up at least seven delegates as Iowa activists took the next step in picking delegates to the national convention.
Half the 14 delegates allocated to John Edwards on the basis of caucus night projections switched Saturday and Obama got most, if not all, of them.
Iowa Democratic Party officials said that with more than 86 percent of the delegates picked, Obama claimed 52 percent of the delegates elected at county conventions on Saturday, compared to 32 percent for Clinton. About 16 percent of the delegates picked at Saturday’s conventions were sticking with Edwards, even though he’s dropped from the race since Iowa held its caucuses in January.
Democratic Party projections said the results mean Obama increased by seven the number of delegates he collects from the state, getting a total of 23 compared to 14 for Clinton and seven for Edwards, with one to be decided.
Twelve automatic delegates bring the state’s total to 57. Obama has been endorsed by four of those and Clinton three, with the remainder uncommitted.
Counting Iowa’s results Saturday, an Associated Press delegate tally showed Obama with 1,610 delegates and Clinton with 1,496.
Obama won the state’s precinct caucuses in January with 39 percent of the vote, with Edwards narrowly edging Clinton to finish second. Projections on caucus night showed Obama getting 16 delegates, compared to 15 for Clinton and 14 for Edwards.
“It means the Obama people are very organized,” said Iowa Democratic Chairman Scott Brennan. “They have been working very hard for these conventions.”
Brennan said turnout was heavy, with more than 13,000 activists showing up at conventions in the state’s 99 counties.
“Today, Iowa Democrats again turned out in large numbers to reject the failed Bush-McCain campaign and its policies,” said Brennan.
Edwards finished second in the state’s leadoff precinct caucuses on Jan. 3, but those caucuses are only the first step in a complicated process of picking the state’s 45 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.
The next step in that process was Saturday with selection of delegates to congressional district and state conventions. Party officials said the results Saturday marked the election of 2,173 of the 2,500 delegates who will go to those convention.
The epic presidential race between Clinton and Obama has been reshaped since Iowa’s caucuses, but is no less intense with every delegate carrying weight.
“Every single one counts and that’s why we’ve been here organizing,” said Teresa Vilmain, a field organizer for Clinton.
“We’ve filled all of our slots,” said Gordon Fischer, a former Iowa Democratic chairman who is organizing for Obama.
Rob Tully, a Des Moines lawyer and prominent Edwards backer, sent an e-mail to supporters urging them to remain neutral, but there was clear movement to Obama when the results were tallied.
“Barack Obama stands for a lot of the same things that John Edwards stood for,” said Ro Foege, a state legislator from Mount Vernon who switched to the Obama camp.
The county conventions are traditionally sleepy gatherings where party leaders have trouble gathering a quorum to conduct business, largely because the party usually has a nominee by this point. With the race still up for grabs, activists jammed school gymnasiums, auditoriums and meeting halls across the state.
Former Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Clinton backer, spoke to more than 1,200 delegates jammed into a suburban high school gym.
“The reality is we are united on one thing today, we are Democrats, we are proud Democrats and we are going to elect a Democratic president,” said Vilsack, who dropped his own bid for the nomination even before the voting began. “Let us pledge that we will unite behind our nominee — be it he or she.”
Who is Senator Obama trying to fool? Now he wants to do damage control by denouncing his pastor, but he still attends church there. I am SHOCKED that it took over a month for Senator Obama to finally say something about his pastor. This is the same pastor that Senator Obama supports through his regular tithing! The Senator family donates thousand of dollars to this church annually. That means he support his pastor’s RACIAL overtones and revolutionary statements of overthrowing America. Who does Senator Obama trying to fool and what is he trying to hide? Why is he openly, freely, and devotedly donated all that money to a cause if he doesn’t believe in it? Why is Senator Obama lying to America? This is as bad as Senator Obama still accepting all that money from his crooked land developer that he supposedly hasn’t seen nor talked to in years? Sure doesn’t sound like Senator Obama a real devoted Christian man to me? Wonder who he and Michelle are praying to everynight? HE’S JUST TRYING TO DO THIS BECAUSE HE NEEDS THE CHRISTIAN VOTE! HOW CAN HE CALL HIMSELF A CHRISTIAN WHEN HE SUPPORTS A CHURCH THAT OPENLY PREACHES THE DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA AND CHRISTIANITY! GO TO HIS CHURCH WEBSITE AND SEE FOR YOURSELF! I WAS GOING TO VOTE FOR SENATOR OBAMA, BUT I AM NOT NOW!
I agree with Crystal 100% — If the people of america believe that hussein has never heard Rev . Wright preach this hate in the 20 years he has been going then they must have drink the kool-aid. I’m pretty sure michelle obama has heard and bought in to this preaching by listening to her talk about for the first time being proud of her country….. America has woke up republicans by the thousands have been voting for Obama wait til november and see who they vote for as well as the southern moderate democrat.
I cannot vote for Obama because of his friends that is anti American, how they feel about America and he refuses to salute the flag. Below is an interesting video by a black preacher that should be seen by everyone. I could easily vote for Colin Powell, Condi Rice or J C Watts, but not this man. He would be the worse president in history. I feel the black people would be the losers if he is elected. Our congress will not back anything he is for and he would never get any bills passed.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=khuu-RhOBDU&feature=bz301
Good god that is an ignorant comment!
Well I guess Iowa is not a place to visit if it supports the teachings that Obama has been going to for the past 20 years. They support a man who goes to a church that hates white people and jews, nice people if they support Obama.
Obama clearly leads in pledged delegates even picking up several that were Edward’s. It appears Edward’s people have veered to Obama. Also, I am grateful that the Wright issue is out in the open. People continually state that Wright is a racist however what is not acknowledged is the fact that we are a divided nation. Why did Wright say the things that he said? The black experience is clearly misunderstood. It has been made apparent by the way white America has reacted to Rev. Wright and his sermons. This debacle should be made into a learning experience. As a country we need to have frank talks about race. I believe many in this country are in denial. Racism, prejudice and ignorance are prevalent. The need for change and real equality is greatly desired.
I as well as you Crystal don’t usually respond to such matters. I feel a need to respond to this. You are misinformed about Obama not saluting the flag. Judge Obama by what he says, not by what someone he knows said. America was founded “One Nation Under God”, but we have yet to live up to it. We are a country divided and when we are reminded of it, eveyone goes into the defensive mode. Rev Wright is not the man to deliver the message. His message as well as alot of the media causes a great divide. We have to think for ourselves, do our own research, so that we can come to an intelligent unbiased conclusion. The bible says “Study to show thyself approved.”
Crystal Frigoletti’s remarks are hypocrite. Do they reflet the U.S. hypocrisy? How can you talk about god fering people when the U. S. does everything contrary to God’s message. The U.S. constantly lies to justify genocide commited by their soldiers and secret agents around the world. For what? To get control over each countrie’s natural resources benefiting U.S. Corporations. U. S. God, to whom they serve is God MOney that is in the Banks, not our God who is in heaven. That is why the U.S. has lost all credibility and moral stance around the World.
Does EDWARDS support the racist, anti american comments of OBAMA’s mentor, Jeremiah????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfNEfEBYIZs
This is like being in the twilight zone. In my whole adult life I have never seen anything like it. We are in a National crisis economically. We have enemies all over the globe that would love to take us down. We continue to treat this like a NFL playoff. This is the highest office in the free world. The American public has every right to know who we are voting for. There are very high standards that need to be upheld. There is criteria that needs to be met. If somebody leaves a woman to drown they should never be in the oval office. If somebody blatantly lies to the public they should be disqualified. If a person degrades America even if it is passively they should not be allowed into the race. Unfortunately we will never know all there is to know about a candidate before they get the keys but we better use prudent judgment and find out as much as we can before we cast our ballot. Not only are we casting a vote on our own behalf but we are also the voice for our children and grandchildren. This is a serious undertaking. Let’s commit to holding all these candidates accountable for their accomplishments, their qualifications, their moral values and most importantly to me their integrity. We need to be able to trust our elected officials.