“Super Saturday” (UPDATE 9: OBAMA PULLS OFF A TRIPLE PLAY, WINS ALL THREE STATES)
**This post has been bumped to the top – newer posts appear below. Updates to this post will appear at the bottom of it.**
Today is the day others are calling “Super Saturday” because there are three states up for grabs for Republicans and Democrats. Of course, the Republican states don’t mean much anymore, since McCain has all but clinched the nomination with Mitt Romney’s exit from the race. But the Democrats are still duking it out (see the close delegate counts here – 2,025 are needed to win the nomination), and today could be a good day for the Obama campaign as, judging from the Super Tuesday contests, he does better in caucus states than primary states, because (at least from what I’ve read) caucuses consist more of “grassroots activists,” a group which favors Obama. The delegates at stake:
For the Republicans: Kansas caucus 39 delegates; Louisiana primary 47 delegates; Washington caucus 40 delegates (19 of Washington’s 40 delegates will be decided at a Feb. 19 primary)
For the Democrats: Louisiana primary 67 delegates; Nebraska caucus 31 delegates; Washington caucus 97 delegates; Virgin Islands 9 delegates.
None of those Dem primaries/caucuses are “winner take all” (in fact, I don’t think any Dem contest is winner take all).
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire endorsed Barack Obama on Friday, which may give him a boost. We’ll be seeing first-ever caucuses in Nebraska, where a record turnout is predicted.
The question remains for the Dems: Will it nomination race come down to the “super delegates”?
Here’s where to check for results:
If you’re interested in seeing the results for the Republican Kansas caucus, go here.
The latest poll numbers show that Clinton and Obama are neck and neck in Washington – Obama is in the lead but the margin of error nullifies that. I’m not finding any polling information for Nebraska and Lousiana.
More: I forgot to mention that there are Democrat caucuses in Maine tomorrow. 34 delegates are at stake there.
Update 1 – 4:30 PM: CBS is projecting Mike Huckabee the winner of the KS caucus.
Update 2 – 6:13 PM: Fox News just reported that at one caucus in Washington, there is about a 3 to 1 support advantage for Obama over Hillary
They also reported that TX Gov. Rick Perry – a McCain supporter – called Mike Huckabee on Friday and asked him to drop out of the race (Update: Here’s the CBS report about that). Obviously, he declined.
Update 3 – 6:31 PM: Polls in LA close at 9 PM ET, but exit polling has been released giving people an idea of what the make up was of the voters, as well as what issues were/are important to them:
DEMOGRAPHICS
Blacks were close to half the Democratic electorate, while nine in 10 Republican primary voters were white. As is typical for presidential primaries, men predominated in the GOP electorate while more women voted in the Democratic contest. Close to one in 10 voters in both primaries were under age 30 and one in four were over age 65.
HURRICANE KATRINA IMPACT
One in seven Democratic voters and about one in 10 Republicans said Hurricane Katrina caused their families severe hardship and they have not recovered. About one in four in both parties said the storm caused severe hardship but they have recovered. Two-thirds of Republicans and a little more than a half of Democrats said Katrina did not cause their family severe hardship. There also were early indications from the exit poll that the northern part of Louisiana was a larger share of the electorate in both parties compared to past primaries, reflecting a population decline in New Orleans and other coastal areas.
ECONOMIC CONCERNS
Given three choices, nearly half of Democratic voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country. About three in 10 said the war in Iraq and the rest said health care. Nine in 10 Democrats rated the national economy not good or poor.
[…]
RACE AND GENDER
In the historic Democratic contest to nominate either the first black or first woman for president, about one in five voters said gender was an important factor in their vote and about as many said that about race.
Update 4 – 8:02 PM: The Politico reports that the Obama campaign is claiming “irregularities” in Lousiana:
BATON ROUGE, LA— The Obama campaign submitted an urgent request for assistance to the Secretary of State’s Division of Elections today, after receiving widespread reports from Democrats across Louisiana who reported that they were not allowed to vote because their party affiliation had been switched. Hundreds of Louisiana democrats went to the polls to vote in today’s presidential primary and found that they were now on registration lists as Independent or Unaffiliated voters.
In Nebraska, in at leat one district, things are looking good for the O-man. Full results should start rolling in around 8:15.
The Washington state caucuses will be over at 8:30.
Update 5 – 8:22 PM: Washington results are starting to come in – Obama is in the lead with 30% reporting.
Update 6 – 8:32 PM: CNN is projecting Barack Obama to win the NE caucuses.
ST is predicting Obama will win Washington, too.
Polls close in LA in 30 minutes.
Update 7 – 8:44 PM: Reuters has an article up about how turnout appeared low in LA.
And CNN is projecting Obama to win in WA.
Update 8 – 9:12 PM: The polls closed in LA at 9. Click here and refresh often for updates on the results. ABC is reporting that according to exit polls, Obama has the advantage.
Update 9 – 10:23 PM: Barack Obama is projected to win LA. Back to the drawing board for team Hillary.