‘Potomac Primary’ seems settled early
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Barack Obama appeared poised Monday to win today’s “Potomac Primary,” as polls showed him with huge leads over Hillary Clinton in Maryland and Virginia.
Obama, fresh from weekend victories in Louisiana, Washington state, Nebraska, Maine and the U.S. Virgin Islands, hopes to add enough of the 168 delegates at stake in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to unknot the two Democrats’ virtual tie. He also hopes that big wins today will enhance his campaign’s momentum ahead of showdowns March 4 in Texas and Ohio.
Clinton, who campaigned Monday at a General Motors transmission plant in suburban Baltimore, tried to project that she was strong and on the march.
“I feel good about where we are,” the New York senator said, reminding her audience that “I’m still ahead in the popular vote and delegates.”
However, while Clinton tried to sound upbeat, her campaign tried in advance to discount the impact of today’s primaries by focusing on March 4. Meanwhile, an enthusiastic crowd of about 17,500 greeted Obama at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center.
“It looks like we’re having March madness a little early,” the senator from Illinois told supporters at the basketball arena. He talked about cleaning up Chesapeake Bay, ending the Iraq war and taking on Clinton.
The audience was wowed. “Amazing. He’s an inspiring figure,” said Wayne Shaw, 37, a project manager for a satellite communications company.
On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, is expected to add to his big delegate lead over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
McCain’s strengths in the region are clear: Maryland and Virginia have large military and veteran populations. In Virginia, registered voters can participate in either party’s primary, and polls have found that McCain’s popularity among independents should help him.
McCain appeared unconcerned by his weak showing over the weekend, when he lost Louisiana and Kansas to Huckabee and barely won Washington state in a caucus whose outcome Huckabee is challenging.
“I never expected a unanimous vote, although I’d certainly like to have that. … I have something close to 800 delegates and last time I checked, Governor Huckabee had very few,” McCain said in Annapolis, Maryland’s capital. “So I think I’m pretty happy with the situation, although I recognize we have a lot of work to do.”
On Monday, Huckabee reiterated his intention to stay in the race until someone gets a majority of delegates. “Let’s show them that the election isn’t over until the people have spoken,” he told backers at the Sheraton Richmond West Hotel.
Clinton explained Monday that she’d shaken up her staff Sunday, replacing campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with longtime confidante Maggie Williams, after Doyle decided to step aside.
“This was Patti’s decision,” Clinton said. “This has already been a very long campaign. It does take quite a toll on the people who are directly involved, particularly those with families.”
Clinton once had hopes of doing well in Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, she had the backing of two of the state’s most powerful Democrats, Gov. Martin O’Malley and veteran Sen. Barbara Mikulski.
However, a SurveyUSA poll taken Thursday and Friday found Obama with a 19 percentage-point lead, including a 71 percent to 18 percent advantage among blacks, who’re expected to make up about 40 percent of Maryland’s electorate.
In Virginia, Clinton’s fortunes seemed a smidgen less bleak, as a Mason-Dixon poll released Sunday found Obama ahead by 16 percentage points.
An 82 percent to 9 percent advantage among black voters, who’re expected to account for about 30 percent of today’s total, is fueling his popularity.