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.”
First of all I understand that the Hillary supporters are mad because she is losing, dont you Hillary supporters get it..
” She is losing for a reason”
Stop hating because Obama is winning.. he is winning for a reason…
.but I dont feel that she is a better candidate for the presidency.
Hillary has too many secrets..
1. she wont show her tax returns (thief)
2. she will say and do anything to get elected (liar)
3. she whines when things dont go her way (selfish)
4. she gets terribly angry when she has been out done (psyco path)
I dont want a President that I cannot trust..she is undesicive..(confused)
I find it strange that she would like Barack to be her VP.. when she feels that he is not ready.. she sounds like a fool… again someone who will say anything to win (manipulator)
It sounds to me that all her supporters are crazy to believe her… but birds of a feather floc together…lol
As for McCain… he is a inch away from self destruction..
he wants to win so that he can take revenge on anything that is war related..ex-POW..
he is a second away from being in a wheel chair.. how can anyone vote for a man that is trying to take our country in the same path as our current Presidential Monkey… he cant even talk for himself.. McCain = Bush
Hillary=Snake
FoxNews, why did you post crystal frigoletti’s incorrect comment about Obama not saluting the American flag, but did not post my earlier comment on this story? Anyone that tries to learn the truth would know that the photos of Obama not covering his heart was not even during the national anthem! Why does a “creditable news agency” continue the spreading of false and misleading information, and does not even try to debunct myths about news and current invents?
This country doesn”t need anyone in charge who is embarrassed to be an American! This country is not perfect and doesn’t pretend to be (Soviets, Chinese, Chavez, Castro, etc.). We were set up to be a sovereign republic, based on the fact that all sovereign power is vested with the people and flows upwards to the States and the Federal govs. That is why there is in place a way for the people to call out there elected officials when they no longer represent the views of the people. That process is called an ELECTION! Once in our history the people voted over 70% of the sitting elected officials out of Congress on a single issue. That time has come again!
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’s 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? 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 TOO DON’T USUALLY COMMENT BUT THIS IS TO IMPORTANT NOT TO. WE ARE VOTING FOR ALL OF AMERICANS, OBAMA HAS MISLED HIS FOLLOWERS——TO PUT IT BLUNTLY——-HE LIED ABOUT HIS PASTOR OF 20 YEARS!!!!!! WHAT ABOUT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY THAT WE WILL BE ENTRUSTING IN HIS JUDGEMENT!!!!!!!! THIS IS VERY SCARY!!!!!!! HE TALKS ABOUT JUDGEMENT—- DO YOU REALLY THINK HE PASSED THE TEST? WE HAVE TO LOOK DEEPER THAN JUST HIS “PRETTY” WORDS AND LOOK WHAT THE MAN SAYS WHEN HE DOSEN’T HAVE A PREPARED SPEECH!!!!!!!!!! LOOK HOW ANGRY MICHELLE IS—- GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!
I cant see Obama winning anything after this whole thing!!
Not God bless American; God D a m n America. I guess Iowa does NOT care about America…..
wow
hey crystal
“God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme,” Wright had said,
he is mostly blaming our goverment and it bad foriegn policy, wakeup and undrestand it.
“There are times when people say things that are just wrong. But I think it’s important to judge me on what I’ve said in the past and what I believe,” explained Obama.
wake up and get it.
It’s nice to see that Clintons smear tactics are not working. I am glad these delegates are using their judgement and common sense and supporting the person who wants to bring change to America. Hillary’s campaign had targeted these Edward delegates to switch to her, and I’m glad it didn’t work. I think there is going to be a backlash against Hillary for all these negative and smear tactics she is using on Obama. I am almost certain it was her campaign that leaked all these tapes of Obamas preacher. She can’t compete with him in a fair and respectable way, because if it was character against character, morals against morals, and issues against issues she would lose against Obama. So she smears, attacks, and hopes somethng sticks. She has forgotten that her and Obama are on the same team, and what the main goal is, which is to defeat McCain in November and take back the White House. The damage she is doing to the democratic party is unacceptable and shows that she cares only about Hillary and not the democratic party or the American people. It’s been really sad to watch.
I have been a Republican my entire life. I voted for Reagan twice, Bush Sr. twice, Dole, and Bush Jr. both times. But I am really disappointed in the way that this country has been run. I am really thinking about voting for Obama in November. All of my friends tell me that Obama is too liberal, but the way I look at it is this: John McCain and Barack Obama are both liberals. I might as well vote for a liberal that isn’t too old and that may actually fix this country. I dunno, maybe I am just thinking like a loony liberal, but I don’t think Obama is that bad. Now of course, if the Devil (Hillary Clinton), manages to steal the nomination, then I have to vote for McCain, but I don’t think that Obama is that bad of a guy….