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.”
crystal he does salute the flag. The big rumor that is going around about him not putting his hand over his heart at an Iowan picnic is not accurate. It is not required to put your hand on your heart and I have seen many people who do who are not showing the respect to the flag because they are talking to others. When he was standing there RESPECTFULLY he was very intently and with heart singing along with the singer. So don’t continue rumors that are not true.
“I don’t usually comment on such matters,before I do please understand this is not about race.”
Your opening statement shows me that you are a racist and ignorant. Do you deny that there is still anger in the likes of some people who feel shut out of real blessings in America? Do you accept that there are some white churches (i have been to a few) which denouce and discourage mixed marriages? In your life time as you say; have you not seen a black man tied and dragged behind a truck and killed by a white man? There are lots of examples of truth which need to be addressed instead of fixing OBAMA on a Rev Wright who served in the US Marines. Fox news, is another example of the FORCES OF DIVISION. Slice and DICE for a living. Shame on you.
What is wrong with Americans giving Obama more votes now that the truth is finally starting to come out on him. Remember, the “truth will set you free”. America, wake up and smell the coffee. Obama doesn’t want his records out anymore than he wants Rezco, his pastor, earmarks, or anything else to come out for that matter. Doesn’t he know by now if, it’s negative information, all he has to do is look sweet and repute, denounce or deny it and the media won’t bring it up again. What a plague on all of us, the mainstream media. FOX is turning out to be more fair in this election than nearly all the rest. Come on media, OB’s not on the level on the Rev. Wright issue or anything else it now seems. He only speaks the truth when he gets caught in a lie or half truth. How much more is lingering out there for Republicans to mo-up the floor with him if, and that’s a big “IF”, he gets the nomination. God help us if he does! Our country needs “US” to stand-up for her now. Our future lingers in the balance of the impending primaries & general election. We need a President to restore our standing at home and abroad. We need Hillary, not inexperience and a very questionable past, and certainly not Senator more of the same, McCain.
Any intelligent person would realize the faith, and teachings of this church is embedded in anti-peace, anti-whites, agenda. Take a look ay the new leader of that Otis Moss who is much of the same with innuendo toward corporate america is the backbone of hip-hop vulgaity and has likened grafitti to stained glass covering church windows. This new leader displays much the same social teachings, attributed to wright. So, why would a half intelligent white person vote for Barack Obama?
Crystal - You might want to get your political news from someplace other than the Drudge report or SwiftBoatsforJustice.com. You probably believe Obama is a radical Muslim who has infiltrated our country in an attempt to destroy all we hold dear. For my daughter’s sake, please do more research before you vote or voice your opinion.
Likewise, you need a history lesson on the founding fathers views of religion. I question if your church or school district taught you the truth. Our founding fathers put forth a government independent of religion. AND they stressed freedom of religion – Jefferson even had is own copy of the Quran!!! (I wonder if Jefferson was a radial Muslim attempting to destroy all the Britain held dear?) Please read the works of Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Hamilton and Franklin…. Our country is founded on religious FREEDOM. That means if I worship a paperclip as the divine being, I can do so without persecution or oppression. I find it appalling how religion has infiltrated our politics.
Bush won the last election due to the religious right’s message about abortion and gay marriage. Forget the Iraq war, the bad economy, corporate scandals, out of control health care costs, millions of illegal immigrants, racism, the uncontrolled national debt, pollution, energy crisis, failed education systems, global warming and alienating the rest of the world… our nation was more concerned about gay’s getting married. LET’S GET OUR PRIORITIES CORRECTED!!!!
This is the first time in my voting life we have a real person running for president. Not a spoon feed elitist like the Bush or Clinton camps.
Please pick up some history books and reevaluate your news source.
where are the comments others have left on this blog/ do they take that long to update or do some just get canned?
It seems like Iowans are intelligent people. It’s great that they can see through the power hungry Clintons who are trying to win at all costs and are tearing the Democratic Party down. It’s time to end the reign of the dishonest Clintons and pick the candidate of true change, Obama.
I was present for this debacle and it sure seemed the fella running it (Tom Henderson) favored the Obama camp. We had all signed in and voted our first round of preferences, with Hillary Clinton having 358 people casting ballots for her. Henderson stalled around with dozens of trivial issues, then allowed delegates a late lunch. Hillary’s older delegates, some exhausted by this time, and the young parents in our group, along with her many core Democratic supporters who are working long hours or two jobs to make ends meet went on home, thinking they had already voted for her. Mr. Henderson sure did not make it clear that the “real” votes were in the second round!! The second round of voting, we had only about 300 people in the Hillary camp. Like caucuses, it comes down to who has the supporters who can hang around longest doing nothing! We wuz robbed! (I am often ashamed of how disorganized my party is, and the Polk County convention was no exception.)
Oh, and if you wonder why Obama wins caucuses but not primaries? It’s not that he’s more popular in caucus states. It’s that caucuses, being run by my beloved but sloppy pary, are FAR MORE OPEN TO CHEATING! Primaries are run by Secretaries of State and subject to laws and court action. Caucuses are run by “political clubs” with zero controls.
Google for my blog entry on what I saw at the Iowa caucuses in the first place. I remain convinced Obama bussed supporters in from Illinois in the nasty old “machine politics” style of Chicago!
Crystal Frigoletti: You may want to do a little research. Obama DID NOT refuse to salute the flag. That is a rumor that has been dispelled months ago. As to the remarks his minister made, well can you honestly say that not one person you know has EVER made a statement that you disagree with? If you want to play the “guilt by association” card then maybe you should cast “guilt” on HRC for her connections with felons who are her “supporters” that are currently serving prison terms. Does that make HRC a felon?
Edwards was an honest man and to see delegates going over to Obama bothers me, per Obama, he was aware of 1 or 2 of Wrights statements. How many Hate related statements does Wright have to make before Obama admits that the man is a Racist?? His wife was not proud to be an American until her husband was running for president. Obama’s spiritual advisor damns the USA and has spoken of his feelings about whites. Please do not tell me Obama did not know this man’s stance. Does the Edward’s delegates dislike Hillary so much that they would put their votes up for Obama? Obama cannot multitask. He was to head up a committee to oversee terrriorism in Afganistan and he has not moved forward on this issue. Per Obama, the campaign started!!! As for his position on the Irag war. Many members voted to go forward based on the bogus information provided by Bush and COLIN POWELL! Obama did not vote and hindsight is great. If Obama wins the Democratic nomination, we will be voting for John McCain.
Joann Lindsey
St. Louis, MO