Obama Presses on to New Hampshire
EmailABC’s David Wright and Sunlen Miller Report: Shortly after wrapping up his caucus night speech to a roaring crowd of over 3,000 supporters, following his Iowa win, it was on to the Illinois senator’s next target: New Hampshire.
Another candidate seemed to have the same idea — Hillary Clinton — who, this time, was ahead of him.
Upon arriving at the airport, Obama’s motorcade was delayed for five minutes while Clinton’s boarded their plane, and ended up being first to take off.
Finally on board his own plane, Obama told reporters that his throat is hoarse but his spirits were buoyed.
"It really was a victory for the people of Iowa that I think it’s a harbinger of what’s going to happen around the country," Obama said.
Obama added though that he’s not in the business of prognosticating what his win in Iowa means for the race but thinks, "they sparked a potential movement for change in the country that will be inspiring for a lot of people."
Next stop: Portsmouth, New Hampshire where Obama has a mere five days to do the same thing all over before the primary.
But that wasn’t exactly what was foremost in Obama’s mind.
"Alight, now let me get some sleep," he told the swarm of excited reporters around him as his plane took off en route to New Hampshire.
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Obama for president
If he can win in Iowa and do well in New Hampshire with Independent support, Obama will have earned the opportunity for a final appeal to Democrats. As he does so, he will undoubtedly tout his then-proven ability to attract Independents and attract new voters into the process. That is why Clinton’s status as frontrunner will be more vulnerable.
Posted by: creditos | January 4, 2008, 7:01 am 7:01 am
I’m with you creditos. If he can pull off New Hampshire, I think South Carolina is his for the taking and the momentum builds.
BUT!! The skeptic in me tells me that Clinton has sort of an insurgent power to get votes, not because of grassroot support but because she is entrenched in the ‘system’ and that ‘system’ will help to get her the votes she needs.
What I mean by that is this. The media and the pollsters, for one, can frame things and drive some support (it’s anyone’s guess as to how much). I think Bush did it in ’04 (someone who had nothing going for him: poor performance, supported issues that no one cared about–but they made it about these non-issues and drove the focus away from his poor performance and it is part of the reason that it worked).
Polling is used to make races look closer than they really are. Look at IA:
Polls Prior to Results:
Clinton 33%
Obama 31%
Edwards 22%
Actual Results:
Clinton 29%
Obama 38%
Edwards 30%
I’m skeptical enough to think that Hillary can ‘Bush’ her way onto the Democratic ticket despite what most Americans would truly vote for.
Most the roadblocks that keep most Americans (and I’m not making excuses for them) from voting in primaries were removed. I think because Iowa had a relatively small number of voters that just needed help getting to the caucuses. And when they did, the votes were there for Obama. In larger states, they are not going to be able to mobilize people like they could in IA and that can only help Clinton.
The more you can restrict common Americans from the polls, the more Clinton will be able to move up in the rankings. Plus influence from the big business that she supports and the indirect support from the GOP (because they know she’s their best shot at winning) she’s still in a strong position despite what we’re hearing after the IA caucuses.
I’d be happy with either Obama or Edwards (because I truly want change in Washington) and my hope is that if it looks like one or the other is pulling ahead, that the weaker candidate drops from the race to give the stronger candidate most of their voters, to beat Clinton.
Posted by: Joe | January 4, 2008, 9:43 am 9:43 am
Many Democrats would seriously consider voting for Mitt Romney (competence) or Mike Huckabee (likability) were Hillary to get the nomination. Mrs Clinton is very capable but carries too much baggage. Imagine a staff meeting with Bill in the room. The twenty & thirty-something staffers would be intimidated. Policies would fail to get off the ground as the battles of the 90s reemerge.
My larger fear is Bill prowling the West Wing at 3 AM when Hill is away and encountering a pretty & bright 24-year-old working late. No need to use your imagination. I and America don’t want to go there. And with Barack we won’t.
What we witnessed last night was generational plate tectonics shift. We leaped from a president & potential candidates born in the 40s to one born in the 60s.
Posted by: Bill | January 4, 2008, 11:03 am 11:03 am
Why does obama not put his hand over his heart during our national anythem,why would we elect a muslim for president. what kind of drugs was he taking earlier in his career.These are some questions that should be asked.
Posted by: Russ | January 5, 2008, 9:13 am 9:13 am
Joe, the “prior” poll you quote was old data. The Des Moines paper released poll numbers immediately before caucus night which where nearly identical to the final tally.
Perhaps you didn’t see that final poll, but as someone saturated in Iowa news coverage, I can tell you the media accurately reported that Sen. Obama had managed to create a lead over his opponents immediately before the caucus which was (finally) larger than the statistical margin of error in the poll.
Spin does happen but your assertion RE: polling numbers is inaccurate.
Posted by: maya | January 5, 2008, 11:38 am 11:38 am
Bill, of the questions we should be asking of Obama, those are the most ridiculous. First of all, Obama is not Muslim and I think it’s a bad reflection on you that you’re questioning the professional abilities of a person based on their religion. Second, he did not use drugs in his early career he would have been thrown out of the race long ago had he been a drug user at any point in his career. As to the allegation of a lack of patriotism, I would ask why would he run for national office if he wasn’t patriotic? I think your premises are flawed and that you should be more informed.
Posted by: lisa | January 5, 2008, 2:32 pm 2:32 pm
Momentum is key to getting the nomination. I agree that Obama needs to capture the independents and the young; this has to be his focus in the few days left in N.H.
However,the voting block who show up at to vote are those over forty. Consequently, Obama not only has to apeal to all groups , but he needs to engage, involve and sign up to vote and turn out the vote of these groups.
Edwards has deep substance is his talks, I hope that Obama does hestiate too much and gives more specifics than generalities. Hillary is great on her feet, fast and filled with specifics.
Obama is inspiritional and he is my candidate and has been from day one; however, debates are not his storng points. Hope he does better this time.
Carol
Posted by: carol geyer | January 5, 2008, 8:54 pm 8:54 pm