The deadlines have passed in many states for voters to register to vote, but I'm feeling pretty confident for Obama and Joe Biden. I have no solid evidence to back up any of my opinions just like noone else does, but I really believe that Obama will be our next president. I'm in a blue state so I might be a little biased, but I don't even think it's going to be a close race. Unless I'm understating the population that's racially biased against Obama, thinking he's a muslim, or is just not going to vote for a democrat ever, I think I've got fairly good reasons to believe he'll be the man. I realize there's a whole other view of this, but there's just so many things happening recently that make me believe this.
Here's why I think he's the man...
We can't forget about the rallies back in early 2008 when he was bringing 30,000 people compared to his opponents with only a couple thousand in attendance. I would assume this translates to bigger polling numbers for Obama... even if not so dramatic.
He has overcome many many media attacks starting starting back over a year ago when Fox News misquoted his name as a terrorist's name. There have been countless attacks since which he has only rebounded even stronger every time. I can't say this about the other side. Bouncing back is a great thing to have in a leader. Inspiring hope after failing is what our country deep down inside I believe is looking for after the financial mess and all the previous garbage we've went through.
Obama has created memes like "Obamaniac" which haven't been duplicated by any of the running opposition.
Interestingly, if you do a search on google for "Obama sucks" (with quotes), he has twice as many pages featuring that phrase compared to mccain. Palin has 3x as many as Joe biden does. I'm taking this as a pure measure of popularity. Obama wins this one.
If you look at crowd sourced websites that sell t-shirts and posters, they have been taken over by Obama merchandise. Palin and McCain are popular too, but if you look at the designs, they're almost all negative. Again, a larger number of designs for Obama. He's got 54,000 compared to McCain with 30,000.
Youtube has the same type of statistics going for it as well. Obama has 478,000 videos which completely trumps McCain's 278,000.
If these numbers stay this drastically different at the voting booths, it will be an easy win for Obama. Like I said... I don't think it will be that simple but there's something to be said about these large sweeping differences.
It's not a question of left or right, Rep. of Dem. - for us Europeans it's plain (Palin?) fear: American voters elected the obviously unqualified G W Bush and the well known neo-conservative Cheney in 2000. AND did the same again in 2004 when the full worldwide disaster of Iraq was already becoming apparent.
America's voters, now once again about even in the polls, are quite likely to show their dangerous ignorance a third time and give us 72 yr old past sell-by-date McCain and even more dangerous and utterly unqualified Palin with her good actuarial chance of "running the world".
KEY POINT - McCain's whole campaign depends on bragging that his 'experience' automatically qualifies him to be Commander-in-Chief. But of course experience does not in itself qualify!
Cheney and Rumsfeld had far more experience (executive not just Senatorial) but they manufactured the Iraq war that has proved far more disastrous financially as well as militarily, than ever did the Vietnam war.
And McCain, despite all that boasted "experience" in Vietnam and the Senate, backed and enthusiastically supported Cheney/Rumsfeld - thereby risking a second "Vietnam" in Iraq (Gen. Petraeus himself insists the temporary improvement is extremely fragile and could disappear as the US draws down: i.e the same "can't stay,can't leave" situation as in Vietnam).
Indeed, as a direct result of "Iraq", there's maybe even another "Vietnam" looming in Afghanistan!
Yet he - McCain - was the one US politician who might have made Bush think twice about the invasion had he - with his "experience" - come out against it!
Obama really must deliver this knockout blow: "experience" is NOT qualification - bad judgement nullifies it! And McCain voted for the worldwide catastrophe for the U.S. of "Iraq"
On all this please see my: www.dipconsult.eu
http://www.hadenoughvotedemocratic.org/
Overall, I'd have to say it was a success and a lot of fun. I registered 6 voters, gave one lady 10 forms so she could work her neighborhood, another lady 2 forms for her unregistered friends, and another lady a form that she wanted to fill out at home. I waved to a bazillion people, most of whom waved back, some very enthusiastically. Once we have done this a few times, people will know us as the Voter Registration People.
I was just getting started when I decided that I would move the table to directly in front of Uncle Sam. The sky was blue, the wind was waving Uncle's flag, and we were highly visible to the farmer's market and everyone passing thru the intersection.
A lot of people stopped to talk to me. Among the first, James Puryear, the artist who created our corner Uncle Sam. He was delighted that we were using Uncle for our backdrop, and later came by to loan me two great 4' high donkeys he made, that carry "Vote" signs. They are inside our HQ now, but will reappear to flank the booth on Saturdays.
Mr. Baddour was out campaigning for his son. He is a republican, pardon the term, but we had a congenial chat, and as he left he said that he admired what I was doing with the registration.
Queries I got:
Q: Do you have bumper stickers? Yard signs? Caps? Buttons? A: We need 'em! Numerous inquiries here ... we need to get some stuff! And post some hours at the HQ when they can come buy it.
Q: Where can I find free wi-fi? A: Coffee shop kattycorner across the square from us or Krystal
Q: Is Palin the biggest empty pantsuit ever? A: Undoubtedly
Q: Can you help me jumpstart my car? A: Yes
Q: Can I volunteer? A: Sign here!
Q: I just can't get over worrying that Obama is a Muslim. He grew up in a Muslim country. A: By that logic, I would still be an Alabama fan. Q: But he hangs with people like Wright and Sharpton. A: They aren't Muslims. They are Christians. Q: Oh. Right.
Q: When is the office open? A: By happenstance. We need to get some regular hours and post them in the window! People want to stop in!
If you want to come sit with me on any Saturday morning up through the last day for voter registration, feel free. Based on last week's experience, I think 8:00 to 12:00 in the morning is the right time span.
Cheri
1. he is 'black' and racism in America is far more powerful than here in Europe,
2. the Democratic party is widely perceived as 'progressive', 'liberal', 'politically correct' - meaning to many, especially in the 'red' states, that Democrats are out to bury the traditional moral values of the US.
So it would seem sensible - as people like Mark J. Penn (ex-election fixer for the Clintons) advise - for Obama to distance himself from this part of the Democratic party's image.
But after Mrs Palin's electrification of the Republican image (thanks to Karl Rove's genius) Obama must equally electrify his campaign.
Three suggestions -
1. present himself in a major speech and in the debates with McCain as the statesman he really is: warn that not just the US but the whole world is right now at a crossroads. Will America go on down the G W Bush road of confrontation to the Pentagon vision of eternal war - or will America take a turn and lead towards the era of cooperation made possible by the end of the Cold War? Only taking that road will make possible solving the immense problems all countries face. (Something on those lines?)
2. Make sure everyone understands that the economic & financial woes of ordinary voters stem directly from G W Bush going to an immensely expensive war on a tax cut for the rich, coupled with his right wing ideology of de-regulation in the financial sector. Something McCain "doesn't get".
3. And inspire us all with that promise to set up a programme to find other sources of energy than oil within ten years. (What happened to that vote-catcher?)
For more - please see our site at www.dipconsult.eu
Crossposted From MyBo Daily F.O.S.
Source: USA Today
SNIP:
1. True believers: 30% of the electorate
Nearly one-third of those surveyed could be called the true believers of this campaign.
They're excited about the election, sure of their choice and unfavorably inclined toward the other guy. They see the stakes as high: Two-thirds say the election will make a great deal of difference to them and their families, the most of any voter group. Eight of 10 feel more enthusiastic than usual about voting this year.
John McCain has some support among this group of the year's most intense voters, but Barack Obama has more. By 2-1, such voters back the Democrat.
This group includes the highest percentage of women, African Americans and liberals — the sort of voters who fueled record turnout in a string of Democratic primaries this year. They express the most concern that McCain will pursue policies similar to those of President Bush, and they give the former Navy fighter pilot the lowest rating as a potential commander in chief.
"I know who I'm going to vote for," Renee Prigmore-Onwu, an Obama supporter from Nashville, says firmly. She works as a child care provider. Her biggest issue is the struggle to make ends meet for her and her three children, ages 16, 11 and 9. "Gas prices plus the cost of food — everything's going up except wages," she says.
Prigmore-Onwu, 46, has watched the campaign closely, supporting New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during the Democratic primaries but now loyal to Obama.
"A black man running for president — this has been a long time coming," she says.
"Then of course Hillary Clinton being a woman as well — it made history."
2. Fired up & favorable: 14% of the electorate
Like the "true believers," voters in the second group are overwhelmingly more enthusiastic than usual about voting. Unlike the first group, though, nearly all of them view McCain and Obama favorably.
Members of this group have been the face of Obama's primary campaign: They have the lowest average age — a third are younger than 35 — and the highest average income. More of them have a college education than any other group.
They're confident in the ability of either candidate to handle the Oval Office — the least likely to worry about whether Obama has enough experience to be president, for instance, and the most likely to rate both Obama and McCain as capable of serving as commander in chief.
That would seem to make them a swing group, but voters in this category say their minds are settled. By nearly 2-1, they support Obama.
Daniel Seagull, 33, a middle-school science teacher from South Glastonbury, Conn., admires McCain for his days as a Republican maverick.
"You knew where he stood and if you didn't like it, too bad," he says. He's solidly for Obama, though, drawn by a message during the primaries that Seagull shorthands as " 'change, change, change' and 'yes we can.' "
In recent weeks, he's been disappointed in each candidate. "It's become the same old story that you see in every election, with the candidates attacking each other and 'blah, blah, blah,' " he says, fretting Obama has become a "play-it-safe" candidate.
Even so, Seagull has a suggestion if Obama becomes president. "Idealistically, if we took one day's worth of spending on the Iraq war and put it toward a Manhattan Project for alternative energy, I would think we could get pretty far," he says.
3. Firmly decided: 12% of the electorate
In a year when many Democrats are keyed up and Republicans discouraged, this group isn't the norm. Nearly eight in 10 say their level of enthusiasm about voting is "about the same as usual." A small fraction of any other group reports seeing this year's campaign as business as usual.
These voters tend to have higher incomes and be older than the average, and they include the highest percentage of registered voters. More than a third hold post-graduate degrees.
Although they are closely divided — 50% for McCain, 48% for Obama — few swing voters are in this group. Almost all of them say they have made up their minds about their vote.
Diana Sparklin's choice is McCain, though she's not convinced he'll succeed enough to win a second term, assuming he manages to win a first. "I feel safer" with the Arizona senator, she says. "I feel he's older and more experienced, and he has some war experience background."
Sparklin, 69, retired to Lady Lake in central Florida 3½ years ago after working as a specialist on foreign patent applications for a law firm in Wilmington, Del. For her, global issues such as climate change, turmoil in Africa and conflict in the Middle East are major concerns.
Obama's relative lack of experience and his association with Jeremiah Wright, whose sermons blasting the United States for racism caused controversy, give her pause. "You just don't separate on a verbal basis" from a longtime pastor, she says of Obama. "I'm afraid he has taken (Wright's views) in his mind."
4. Up for grabs: 18% of the electorate
These voters are squarely in the middle. They tend to have favorable views of both candidates and are the most likely to say either would make a good president, but they aren't yet settled in their choice. They aren't paying as much attention to the campaign as the most engaged voters in the first two groups, but they're also not as disenchanted as those in the last two groups.
One in four of those in this group say they're undecided about whom to support, and the rest say they might change their mind before Election Day.
This battleground group has a GOP tilt. It includes the highest percentage of whites of any group and more of those who attend church every week. McCain needs to make major inroads with them to offset Obama's edge among other voters.
Stephanie Clemens cast her first presidential vote for Bush in 2004. This year, the 23-year-old student from Chico, Calif., sees a lot to like in both contenders. McCain "has strong leadership and he seems like an approachable person," she says. She admires Obama's idea of "a change, something different." She can't think of anything she doesn't like about either one.
She does have definite views about which issues matter most to her. She's studying at California State University-Chico and considering a career in human resources management or event planning. "College tuition, health care, the economy, gas prices," she says, ticking them off. "These are things that affect my life."
5. Skeptical & downbeat: 12% of the electorate
The election's most downbeat voters are the least enthusiastic about voting and skeptical about whether the election will make a difference for them and their families. They give Bush his lowest approval rating of any group.
They aren't excited about the contenders to succeed the president, either. Four in 10 haven't decided whom to support, by far the largest of any group, and the rest are open to changing their minds.
Voters in this group are older than average and the least likely to have a college education. It includes the highest percentage of those who live in small towns and rural areas.
They favor McCain over Obama by 11 percentage points, but can he persuade more of them to support him — and then turn out to vote?
Joe Heiser, 49, a steelworker from Pittsburgh and an independent, has qualms about both candidates. McCain "might be a little bit too old" for the job, he worries. Obama "has more passion as to what he's trying to achieve," but Heiser wonders whether he'll be able to deliver on his promises. Most politicians don't, he says.
Heiser's biggest concerns are economic, "health care for the elderly and the way things are rising in costs." He's concerned about securing U.S. borders and resolving the Iraq war. His expectations that anything will change are low, however, one reason he questions whether it really matters who wins.
"I'm not too excited about it," he says. "It turns out to be the same, no matter who is in there."
6. Decided but dissatisfied: 16% of the electorate
Don't tell voters in this group that elections matter: Not one of them says the campaign outcome will make much difference to them or their families. By 2-1, they are less enthusiastic than usual about voting. Still, in contrast to the previous "skeptical and downbeat" group, all of these voters say their minds are firmly made up.
They include the highest percentage of conservatives and Republicans of any group, and they give Bush his highest job-approval rating, albeit still just 37%. This group is the least likely to see the Iraq war as a mistake, although 51% say that it was.
That underscores a quandary for McCain. The groups that clearly favor the Arizona senator are the two final ones. One gives Bush his highest rating, the other his lowest. One group has the fewest members who say invading Iraq was a mistake; the other has the most. Bridging that divide and building support from both groups could be a challenge, especially when it comes to calibrating how closely to embrace Bush.
National security concerns drive the "decided but dissatisfied" voters. It is the only group in which a majority favors a candidate whose strength is protecting the country from terrorism rather than fixing the economy, and the only group in which a majority doubts Obama can handle the responsibilities of commander in chief. This group is McCain's base, the only one in which his support tops 50%.
David McLen, 53, from a town north of Houston called Spring, admires McCain's military service but worries that he's not really a conservative. Obama, though, is "to the left of me on just about everything," says McLen, who works in the oil business, verifying land and mineral claims before drilling begins.
He supports more domestic exploration of oil, is concerned about the economy and illegal immigration and calls security issues "very important," though he's come to question the war. "What are we doing there, and when will we leave?" he asks.
In the Republican primaries, McLen preferred nearly every GOP presidential contender over McCain. He voted for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the Texas primary, liked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and was intrigued by some of what Texas Rep. Ron Paul had to say.
"I don't think either of these candidates are evil," McLen says of McCain and Obama, "but to use the cliché, I'm choosing the lesser of two evils."
Most of us on this blog are high information voters--that is to say that we read from many different sources and form our own synthesis of the various opinions. We tend to be aware of the many sides of the same issue, more of the pros and cons. Also we tend to be more open to adjusting our opinions based on new information.
Thank God, we are increasing in numbers. The more there are of us, the safer we are as a nation and as a Democracy.
However, there are also a very large group of voters out there who are low information voters. They are not necessarily "dumber" or even less educated (in the formal sense of schooling) than the high information voters, but they do have less information regarding the candidates in their minds than the high information voters because they choose to not spend time reading or listening to information about political issues. Reasons for this are many--not motivated, low interest in politics, busy, other priorities, etc.
Read More »I thought I would post this story because at times I have noticed that in the blogosphere and on television, we often see people touting that they know what the framers of this country would want or think. The amount of arrogance that spews from messages like that amazes me because we don't know and the framers of the Constitution were not perfect. Additionally, to some everything is so black and white. But there are shades of gray always.
Read on to find out why the election of 1800 has been studied for years and was very controversial. Read More »
The latest polls show he has a surprising advantage over McCain and is favored by up to 62% of voters. Obama is "doing better than anyone imagined at this point," said Simon Rosenberg, head of the pro-Democratic group NDN, which specializes in Latino outreach. "But he does have room to grow."
A new Gallup Poll summary of surveys taken in May shows Obama winning 62% of Latino registered voters nationwide, compared with just 29% for McCain. Others have found a wide gap as well. The pro-Democratic group Democracy Corps compiled surveys from March through May that showed Obama with a 19-point lead among Latinos. And a Times poll published last month showed Obama leading McCain among California Latinos by 14 points.
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I think Obama and the Campaign Veep Committee has a Vice President contender right on the Committee. Her name is Caroline Kennedy the daugther of John F Kennedy. She is bright no baggage and would be a great Women to have on his ticket. It would to me make for a strong ticket. I am going to contact the Obama campaign and suggest they consider Caroline Kennedy for the 2nd spot on the ticket. How many Democrats on here like Caroline Kennedy and would support an Obama/Kennedy ticket?
Obama/Kennedy 08
Jun 3, 9:15 PM EDT
Obama clinches nomination; Clinton seeks VP spot
By TOM RAUM and NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writers
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois sealed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. A vanquished Hillary Rodham Clinton maneuvered for the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket.
Obama's victory set up a five-month campaign with Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a race between a 46-year-old opponent of the Iraq War and a 71-year-old former Vietnam prisoner of war and staunch supporter of the current U.S. military mission.
Both men promptly exchanged criticism over the war in Iraq and sought to claim the mantle of change in a country plainly tired of the status quo.
"It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year," Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery in St. Paul, Minn.
"It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs. ... And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave young men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians." In a symbolic move, he spoke in the same hall where McCain will accept the Republican nomination at his party's convention in September.
McCain spoke first, in New Orleans, and he accused his younger rival of voting "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq. It was a reference to 2007 legislation to pay for the Iraq war, a measure Obama opposed citing the lack of a timetable for withdrawing troops.
McCain agreed with Obama that the presidential race would focus on change. "But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change, between going forward and going backward," he added.
Obama sealed his nomination, according to The Associated Press tally, based on primary elections, state Democratic caucuses and delegates' public declarations as well as support from 19 delegates and "superdelegates" who privately confirmed their intentions t/o the AP. It takes 2,118 delegates to clinch the nomination at the convention in Denver this summer, and Obama had 2,129 by the AP count.
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AP tally: Obama effectively clinches nomination
By DAVID ESPO and STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press Writers
AP Photo/Chris Carlson
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, ending a grueling marathon to become the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.
Campaigning on an insistent call for change, Obama outlasted former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic race that sparked record turnout in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial and gender divisions within the party.
The tally was based on public declarations from delegates as well as from another 16 who have confirmed their intentions to the AP. It also included 11 delegates Obama was guaranteed as long as he gained 30 percent of the vote in South Dakota and Montana later in the day. It takes 2,118 delegates to clinch the nomination.
The 46-year-old first-term senator will face John McCain in the fall campaign to become the 44th president. The Arizona senator campaigned in Memphis, Tenn., during the day, and had no immediate reaction to Obama's victory.
Clinton stood ready to concede that her rival had amassed the delegates needed to triumph, according to officials in her campaign. They stressed that the New York senator did not intend to suspend or end her candidacy in a speech Tuesday night in New York. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to divulge her plans.
Obama's triumph was fashioned on prodigious fundraising, meticulous organizing and his theme of change aimed at an electorate opposed to the Iraq war and worried about the economy - all harnessed to his own innate gifts as a campaigner.
With her husband's two-White House terms as a backdrop, Clinton campaigned for months as the candidate of experience, a former first lady and second-term senator ready, she said, to take over on Day One.
But after a year on the campaign trail, Obama won the kickoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, and the freshman senator became something of an overnight political phenomenon.
"We came together as Democrats, as Republicans and independents, to stand up and say we are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come," he said that night in Des Moines.
A video produced by Will I. Am and built around Obama's "Yes, we can" rallying cry quickly went viral. It drew its one millionth hit within a few days of being posted.
As the strongest female presidential candidate in history, Clinton drew large, enthusiastic audiences. Yet Obama's were bigger still. One audience, in Dallas, famously cheered when he blew his nose on stage; a crowd of 75,000 turned out in Portland, Ore., the weekend before the state's May 20 primary.
The former first lady countered Obama's Iowa victory with an upset five days later in New Hampshire that set the stage for a campaign marathon as competitive as any in the last generation.
"Over the last week I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice," she told supporters who had saved her candidacy from an early demise.
In defeat, Obama's aides concluded they had committed a cardinal sin of New Hampshire politics, forsaking small, intimate events in favor of speeches to large audiences inviting them to ratify Iowa's choice.
It was not a mistake they made again - which helped explain Obama's later outings to bowling alleys, backyard basketball hoops and American Legion halls in the heartland.
Clinton conceded nothing, memorably knocking back a shot of Crown Royal whiskey at a bar in Indiana, recalling that her grandfather had taught her to use a shotgun, and driving in a pickup to a gas station in South Bend, Ind., to emphasize her support for a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax.
As other rivals quickly fell away in winter, the strongest black candidate in history and the strongest female White House contender traded victories on Super Tuesday, the Feb. 5 series of primaries and caucuses across 21 states and American Samoa that once seemed likely to settle the nomination.
But Clinton had a problem that Obama exploited, and he scored a coup she could not answer.
Pressed for cash, the former first lady ran noncompetitive campaigns in several Super Tuesday caucus states, allowing her rival to run up his delegate totals.
At the same time, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., endorsed the young senator in terms that summoned memories of his slain brothers while seeking to turn the page on the Clinton era.
In a reference that likened former President Clinton to Harry Truman: "There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party."
Merely by surviving Super Tuesday, Obama exceeded expectations.
But he did more than survive, emerging with a lead in delegates that he never relinquished, and proceeded to run off a string of 11 straight victories.
Clinton saved her candidacy once more with primary victories in Ohio and Texas on March 4, beginning a stretch in which she won primaries in six of the final nine states on the calendar, as well as in Puerto Rico.
It was a strong run, providing glimpses of what might have been for the one-time front-runner.
But by then Obama was well on his way to victory, Clinton and her allies stressed the popular vote instead of delegates. Yet he seemed to emerge from each loss with residual strength.
Obama's bigger-than-expected victory in North Carolina on May 6 offset his narrow defeat in Indiana the same day. Four days later, he overtook Clinton's lead among superdelegates, the party leaders she had hoped would award her the nomination on the basis of a strong showing in swing states.
Obama lost West Virginia by a whopping 67 percent to 26 percent on May 13. Yet he won an endorsement the following day from former presidential rival and one-time North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
Clinton administered another drubbing in Kentucky a week later. This time, Obama countered with a victory in Oregon, and turned up that night in Iowa to say he had won a majority of all the delegates available in 56 primaries and caucuses on the calendar.
There were moments of anger, notably in a finger-wagging debate in South Carolina on Jan. 21.
Obama told the former first lady he was helping unemployed workers on the streets of Chicago when "you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart."
Moments later, Clinton said that she was fighting against misguided Republican policies "when you were practicing law and representing your contributor ... in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago."
And Bill Clinton was a constant presence and an occasional irritant for Obama. The former president angered several black politicians when he seemed to diminish Obama's South Carolina triumph by noting that Jesse Jackson had also won the state.
Obama's frustration showed at the Jan. 21 debate, when he accused the former president in absentia of uttering a series of distortions.
"I'm here. He's not," the former first lady snapped.
"Well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," Obama countered.
There were relatively few policy differences. Clinton accused Obama of backing a health care plan that would leave millions out, and the two clashed repeatedly over trade.
Yet race, religion, region and gender became political fault lines as the two campaigned from coast to coast.
Along the way, Obama showed an ability to weather the inevitable controversies, most notably one caused by the incendiary rhetoric of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
At first, Obama said he could not break with his longtime spiritual adviser. Then, when Wright spoke out anew, Obama reversed course and denounced him strongly.
Clinton struggled with self-inflicted wounds. Most prominently, she claimed to have come under sniper fire as first lady more than a decade earlier while paying a visit to Bosnia.
Instead, videotapes showed her receiving a gift of flowers from a young girl who greeted her plane.
by Caitlin HarveyMonday, June 02, 2008 at 07:07 PM
This afternoon, Michelle Obama stopped by The Nurturing Center in Kalispell, Montana, where she read several books to local children, including Green Eggs and Ham.
After the books were finished, the children lined up to each give Michelle a big hug!
Stay tuned for more coverage of Michelle's visit to Kalispell, and remember to vote tomorrow if you live in Montana! Find your polling location here.
And if you don't live in Montana, help make calls to undecided Montanans before tomorrow's election!
Posted: 05:19 PM ET
From CNN Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, CNN's Deirdre Walsh
Clyburn has been critical of former President Bill Clinton.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Several sources tell CNN that House Majority Whip and superdelegate James Clyburn of South Carolina will endorse Senator Barack Obama Tuesday.
Clyburn, whose congressional district went overwhelmingly for Obama in the state's January primary, had said that he would wait to weigh in on the presidential race until the last nominating contest had been held. Earlier this spring, he had made remarks critical of Bill Clinton, calling his conduct on the trail "bizarre," and telling interviewers that some of the former president's actions had deeply upset African-Americans.
"There are African-Americans who have reached the decision that the Clintons know that [Hillary Clinton] can’t win this," he told Reuters. "But they’re hell-bound to make it impossible for Obama to win.”
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