Obama dawns as democrats' hope to win White House

Jet, May 26, 2008 by Kevin Chappell

In the heavyweight fight for the Democratic nomination, it s looking more and more like a TKO for Barack Obama, who has accomplished what few thought he could--he's pieced together a grassroots apparatus for change that has all but defeated Hillary Clinton and her powerful political machine.

With only four states and one territory left to have a say, and an increasing number of superdelegates left with no other option but to say, "No mils," it appears to be only a matter of time before the improbable movement that has rewritten history, redefined America and reawakened Black America officially moves on to battle the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Obama overwhelmingly leads Clinton in the number of delegates, states and votes--if not hearts and hopes-won. But even with only 189 delegates at stake in the remaining contests in Kentucky, Oregon, Montana, South Dakota and Puerto Rico, Obama has made it clear that he would not declare victory, until either Clinton quits or enough superdelegates side with him to give him the 2,025 he needs to secure the nomination.

At JET press time, he continued to be more than 100 delegates short, and Clinton appeared nowhere near walking away in defeat.

On To McCain

In fact, instead of ratcheting down her cash-strapped campaign, which she has lent about $6 million in the past few months, Clinton is ramping up her rhetoric, calling for votes to be counted in Florida and Michigan. She even took the unusual step of writing Obama a personal note calling on him to do the same.

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"I have consistently said that the votes cast in Florida and Michigan in January should be counted. WO cannot ignore the fact that the people In those states took the time to be a part of this process and to make their preferences known ..." wrote Clinton, who won the vote in both states, although Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan. "Your commitment to the voters of these states must be clearly stated and your support for a fair and quick resolution must be clearly demonstrated."

Although Obama has said that he wants the delegates m both states--which were stripped of their delegates for violating party rules by scheduling their primaries early-to be seated in an equitable way, it has become obvious that he is looking more to the future than the past.

While his staff continues to deal with Clinton, including amplified talk that she might want to be considered for vice president, Obama is increasingly holding small town hall meetings where his focus is on McCain, drawing contrasts between himself and the Arizona senator on the economy, the Iraq war and foreign policy.

"John McCain wants to continue the failed policies of the Bush administration," Obama said speaking to a group in Beaverton, Ore. "I want to change the way things are down in Washington.... We have a fundamental difference on our priorities for America."

Black Power '08

Many pundits conclude that Obama's success has hinged on the fact that he has successfully transcended race, while he, at the same time, stayed true to it. Whites have claimed to be part of "history in the making" while African-Americans have given Obama a base deep enough--and shoulders strong enough--to launch himself, and possibly an entire race, to new heights.

Look no further than the results earlier this month in North Carolina, where 92 percent of Blacks cast their votes for the junior senator from Illinois. That was up from 40 percept of the Black Vote when the primary season kicked off in Iowa in January.

Obama's big win in North Carolina came after Obama completely distanced himself from his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

For Obama, becoming the first African-American to embody a major party's best hope to capture the White House has been a spiritual journey of self-awareness and humility. "This is bigger than Barack Obama," he has often said. "I realize that I am an imperfect messenger."

However, standing in the way of history, Clinton continues on, some say hoping that Obama's self-proclaimed imperfection will reveal itself in some new game-changing revelation.

But Time Is Running Out

On a conference call with reporters, Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe figured any doubts remaining about the Democratic nomination would be dispelled after the May 20 primaries in Kentucky and Oregon. Obama then would likely have earned a majority of the total pledged delegates, which, in turn, would likely prompt the superdele-gates to support him en masse-with or without Clinton's admission of defeat. "We think that will be an incredibly important date in the campaign," Plouffe said.

The Superdelegate Math

Since North Carolina, Obama has added superdelegates from Utah, Ohio and Arizona, as well as two from the Virgin Islands who had previously backed Clinton. The additions enabled Obama to surpass Clinton's superdelegate total for the first time in the campaign. At the beginning of the year, Clinton enjoyed a 106-superdelegate lead over Obama, according to the Associated Press.