Behind the numbers
I wrote in my last blog about Clinton’s seeming dismissal of large groups of Democratic voters, and it appears from yesterday’s primary that I’m not the only person who feels this way. Obama took Wisconsin yesterday by a pretty large percentage (58% to Clinton’s 41%). Beyond the numbers, though, there are some other pieces of significant trivia (at least, in my opinion).If you look at how the numbers break down by county, Obama won almost every one of them. This shows a wide-spread support for him over Clinton across the state, not just in the cities. The exit polls also showed that he’s cutting into Clinton’s base, taking larger percentages of women and lower to lower-middle class white voters than he was in earlier primaries. To me, this indicates one of two things: Obama is truly the candidate who is going to bring the party together (as well as bring in independents and liberal Republicans) or Clinton truly shot herself in the foot by failing to campaign adequately here. We won’t really know until Texas and Ohio which is the case, which makes those primaries all the more important.
What excites me most about the numbers, though, is not the Obama won by such a large margin, but that so many people went out to vote in the primary. Nearly half of all registered voters in Wisconsin voted yesterday. That’s an amazing percentage for a primary. I’ve said since early on this election season that one of the most interesting things, to me, was that the candidates seem to be inspiring people, encouraging them to get involved. Sure, maybe we’re all out voting because we’re so glad to be rid of the tyranny of Bush soon, but we’re actually voting. People are talking about politics instead of American Idol. We’re getting involved, and, for political nuts like me, that is super exciting.
Numbers aside, the next two weeks are going to really determine alot for the Democratic Party. How negative the race becomes is going to determine how ugly things will get within the party; how the debates go this week will either give Clinton fodder for more attacks against Obama’s lack of solutions or will give Obama room to fight her attacks. The debate over the superdelegates will continue, and how that goes in the next two weeks is going to help determine the nominee (and how badly the party may split). There are also some key endorsements left to be had: here in Wisconsin, many of us (including me) are waiting for Feingold’s endorsement; Gore and Edwards have also yet to endorse a candidate. It’ll be interesting to see if they pick a side or wait the process out. (A side not- the Teamsters endorsed Obama today).
For now, though, Wisconsin can be proud of their role in the political process; we’ve had our turn, and now we get to wait and see what happens. I, for one, can’t wait!
Posted by mtucker on 02/20 at 02:32 PM
I long for the days of less than half the population showing up in november, let alone in the primaries. You know, the days when politicians were talking about reforming the process and making this country more democratic, before the media realized they could boost their ratings by getting involved in politics and portraying the races as perpetually tight, contentious and compelling without having to actually include any coverage of the issues.