Obama Wins Indiana!

Although those who only glance at the final numbers from the polls will undoubtedly say Hillary won Indiana, I think that those who spend a little more time analyzing the results just might figure out that Barack  Obama was the real winner in Indiana on Tuesday.

The 50.9%-49.1% split in Indiana really was too close for Hillary to be able to claim much of a victory out of it, especially when you scratch just a bit below the surface.  Given the timing of the “Guns and Religion” flareup along with the Rev. Wright eruption, which had to have hurt Obama in conservative Small-Town Indiana, the race was far closer than many would have predicted a few days ago. However with CNN reporting 99% of the votes counted, Hillary had only won Indiana’s popular vote by 22,413 votes out of 1,254,136 cast. Because convention delegates are proportionally awarded instead of winner take all, Hillary only picked up a net of 4 additional delegates, 37 to the 33 won by Obama.  But on the day, North Carolina broke much heavier for Obama and he won the popular vote in North Carolina by  232,775 votes .  He also picked up 16 additional delegates, 58 to 42.  For those who only look at final numbers (or 99% final to be precise), at the end of the day Obama had picked up 210,362 more actual votes and 12 more convention delgates than Clinton.  Spin-it any way you want but if ”The Peoples’” primary vote actually counted instead of being subjected to a high stakes game of Democratic Superdelegate Convention Charades, this game would be over. 

But a key factor in the final tally was the crossover vote by Hoosier Republicans where there were few contested races to spark much interest in what little the GOP had to offer. Much of that conservative crossover vote probably was cast for Hillary, not Obama http://www.theage.com.au/news/us-election/crossover-voters-hijack-poll/2008/05/07/1209839709184.html   And I think Obama’s campaign apparently has nailed it once again with the analysis of what happened in Indiana http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/05/obama_team_talking_points_memo.html http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/05/obama_team_talking_points_memo.html  

Conservative political masterminds like Rush Limbaugh know that the GOP has some real problems staring them in the face for the November  election.  Especially if the Independent vote where Obama has demonstrated some strength or a Libertarian Bob Barr vote is factored into the general election equation.  But doing what is best for America is seconday, doing what is best for the GOP is the only thing that truly seems to matter to them. For obvious political power reasons, they would greatly benefit by having their guy face the weaker Democratic candidate - but also don’t forget how much on-air fun El Rushbo could have for the next four years with Bill & Hill back in the Whitehouse.  Heads he wins - Tails you lose.  

Operation Chaos shenanigans are a sharp contrast to the genuinely honest  comments of GOP misfit presidential contender Ron Paul who truly does put the interest of America first and foremost ahead of the GOP  http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/02/paul-not-ready-to-endorse-mccain-likes-obamas-foreign-policy/

People who voted in the Democratic primary on Tuesday may have thought their “little guy” vote mattered - it didn’t.  The only votes that truly matter now are the handful of politically elite Superdelegate convention votes that are still on the table.  Somehow that just doesn’t seem very “Democratic” to me.

This entry was posted on 7. May 2008 at and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.