PORTLAND, Ore. — The Barack Obama campaign has scuttled plans to declare victory in the presidential nominating contest after today’s voting, fearing the end run could backfire and divide Democrats.
Though Obama continues to draw huge crowds — a record 72,000 people turned out Sunday in Portland to hear the Illinois senator — and though he is staging tonight’s rally in the battleground state of Iowa, his campaign signaled Monday that it no longer planned to mark today as Victory Day over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Instead, Obama will use the “complete-the-circle” symbolism of returning to the first state to hold a Democratic presidential nominating process in order to launch his general-election race against GOP Sen. John McCain, said Federico Peña, a former Denver mayor and the national co-chairman to Obama’s campaign.
“My sense is that the senator has been very respectful of Sen. Clinton’s absolute right to continue her campaign,” Peña said.
Obama “is the leader,” said Peña, a Cabinet member in the Clinton administration, adding that Obama’s campaign feels it can’t wait until August’s Democratic National Convention to target the Arizona senator. “McCain is out there campaigning all over the country.”
“It would be very imprudent for us to wait,” Peña said.
Obama’s campaign suggested last week that May 20 would mark the day he would declare the nominating race over. Tonight’s rally will be in Des Moines, where he thanked supporters Jan. 3 after winning the first Democratic contest, instead of in Oregon, where he is expected to win today.
Clinton cites “slap” to voters
But Clinton fought back, issuing a stern warning Monday in a memo titled: “Mission Accomplished? Not so fast.”
“Senator Obama’s plan to declare himself the Democratic nominee tomorrow night in Iowa . . . is a slap in the face to the millions of voters in the remaining primary states and to Senator Clinton’s 17 million supporters,” the memo says.
Clinton counts the votes she received from the disqualified contests of Michigan and Florida. Her campaign argues that it would be wrong to stop the contest now, or to claim that it had ended, because a handful of races continue and because the issue of what to do about Michigan and Florida is to be taken up this month by the Democratic National Committee.
“The question is not the math, it’s the map,” said former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, who serves as a national co-chairman to the Clinton campaign. “Until either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton has the sufficient votes to claim the nomination, the boxing match goes on.”
Celebration in Kentucky
Clinton is holding a rally tonight in Louisville, Ky. She is expected to defeat Obama by a wide margin in Kentucky’s primary today.
Obama believes today’s votes will give him at least 1,627 pledged delegates, a majority of the total 3,253 pledged delegates to the national convention. The number still trails the 2,026 needed to officially win, according to party rules.
“I don’t think he can end it (today),” said Robert Eisinger, a political scientist at Portland’s Lewis & Clark College.
“He is going to lose Kentucky. He will not have enough delegates tomorrow night to win. What he will be able to do is provide some symbolic closure. . . . He can say, ‘I won here in Iowa . . . and as I forge my campaign against John McCain, I can say thank you to Iowans,’ ” Eisinger said.
Obama’s Portland rally on Sunday, with a city fire bureau estimate of 72,000 participants, was the biggest yet for the Democrat. Though the weather was warm and sunny and a popular band played for free, Eisinger said the turnout exceeded anyone’s expectations.
Obama ended his 40-minute stump speech by saying, “If you vote for me, then I promise you we won’t just win Oregon, we’ll win this nomination.” And though he continued the statement to include a promise to win the general election, the crowd’s cheers all but drowned him out.
Chuck Plunkett: 303-954-1333 or cplunkett@denverpost.com
Colorado delegates
Democratic National Convention delegates for the state’s 5th Congressional District were announced Monday:5th CD, Hillary Rodham Clinton: Brenda Krause
5th CD, Barack Obama: Mike Maday, Ben Taber, Lynn Young. Alternate: Jason DeGroot
These delegates for the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th congressional districts were announced last week: 1st CD, Clinton: Awilda Marquez, Denver; Daniel Kagan, Englewood
1st CD, Obama: Anthony Graves, Denver; Crisanta Duran, Denver; Seth Masket, Denver; Allegra “Happy” Haynes, Denver
2nd CD, Clinton: Odell Barry, Denver; Sacha Millstone, Boulder
2nd CD, Obama: Jessica Wittmer, Boulder; Shawn Coleman, Boulder; Richard Gardener, Boulder; Sarah Kihm, Boulder
6th CD, Clinton: Rebecca McClellan, Centennial; John Petty, Aurora
6th CD, Obama: Bob Kihm, Centennial; Marzette Bedford-Billinghurst, Greenwood Village; Paula Noonan, Littleton
7th CD, Clinton: Monisha Merchant, Lakewood; Jere Kennedy, Lakewood
7th CD, Obama: Joe Beaver, Lakewood; Allison Cotton, Aurora; Dorian De Long, Arvada
