Obama & Oprah Deliver Magic In South Carolina + The Latest Poll Numbers
Posted by Ashish on 12.09.2007
Huge rally draws 30,000+ while latest polls show that Hillary has lost her lead in NH and SC...
Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey's rally in South Carolina today drew over 30,000 people and they saw what may be remembered as a historic day in Obama's campaign.
Oprah tweaked her Iowa speech a bit to appeal more to the African American crowd, even referencing Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech at one point.
"We don't have to just dream the dream anymore. We get to vote that dream into reality," Winfrey said.
Obama dialed up his speech for a largely African American crowd as well and spoke more passionately than ever before. He referenced the civil rights fight more than before and even acknowledged the fact that he could be America's first black President ever, something he never does.
"I remember some folks saying, 'Oh no a black man can't win," Obama said. "I remember that. When folks tell me I can't do something, that's when I like to do it."
He seemed to be really caught up in the moment, feeding off the energy of the crowd which yelled "fired up" as he closed out his speech. If Obama ends up winning the Democratic nomination, this event will be looked back on as the highlight of the campaign and possibly the turning point. It was magic.
Meanwhile, the latest MSNBC/McClatchy/Mason-Dixon polls show that Hillary Clinton has all but lost her lead in New Hampshire and South Carolina, while Iowa remains a total toss up, and Nevada is now competitive.
In Iowa, the poll has Hillary at 27%, Obama at 25%, and Edwards at 21%, which when counting the margin of error, puts Clinton and Obama in a tie and Edwards right behind.
In New Hampshire, Hillary has 30% with Obama at 27% and Edwards at 10%. Hillary's 3% lead over Obama is the closest this race has been and, when factoring the margin of error, it's a tie.
In South Carolina, Hillary is at 28% to Obama's 25%, another statistical tie, with Edwards at 18%.
In Neveda, Obama seems to finally be chipping away at what was a massive Hillary lead. The latest poll has Hillary at 34% and Obama at 26%.
On the Republican side, the poll has confirmed the Newsweek poll that has Mike Huckabee surging everywhere.
In Iowa, they have Huckabee at 32%, followed by Romney at 20% and Fred Thompson at 11%.
In New Hampshire, they have Romney at 25%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 17% and John McCain at 16%.
In South Carolina, Huckabee has taken the lead with 20%, followed by Giuliani at 17%, Romney at 16%, and Thompson at 14%.
In Neveda, Giuliani still leads with 25%, followed by Romney at 20% and Huckabee at 17%.
Ms. Clinton is history. Through all of 2007, she ran the Democratic race as if she was the inevitable nominee for her party. She attempted to stay above the fray, talked and generalities, and even went so far during a debate to say that the reason people are picking on her was that she was "winning". Her campaign manager went even further to say in November that if the election were held [then], that Ms. Clinton would win.
No more. Hillary now is dropping like a stone in the polls. She's been caught in several messy predicaments, most of her own doing. She looks unsure, un-confident, and lately just plain desperate. Having husband Bill around trying to plug up the dike has been more harmful then helpful. Bill's ego seems to get in the way of who he is trying to help. He talks more about himself then her does his wife.
Additionally, Hillary herself has gone negative. Her campaign has been caught staging town hall meetings, having her campaign team show up as plants at Republican debates, and has sent out e-mails claiming Obama is Muslim. Hillary, for someone with high negatives anyway, will probably be getting over 50% negative ratings in the polls. No candidate can win with those kinds of negatives.
Hillary has the experience of knowing how to appease the public in speech and the knowledge of how to hide untruths. Obama is very flavorable in swaying the public because he has not been in Washington long enough to learn all the tricks. I think change will override experience.
Ms. Clinton "rock star" persona is now history. She now is starting to look just another candidate with a lot of baggage that needs to be explained.
Posted By: Mike (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 07:48 PM
I was there at the rally today. It was electric. I went in undecided and came out ready to vote for Obama.
Posted By: Regina (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 07:49 PM
I just listened to the speech on Obama's website and agree with your assessment. It was a powerful and moving.
Posted By: phidda (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 07:50 PM
That was an amazing speech by Obama! I watched it on barackobama.com. Really inspiring!
Posted By: Obama08 (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 08:05 PM
Huckabee wanted to remove all people with AIDS from society. And THIS guy could be President? Ugh.
Posted By: Marvin (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 08:07 PM
Obama losing will kill off whatever little hope people have at turning around our corrupt system. I wonder if people realize exactly how important this election is.
Posted By: Paul Harrison (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 08:12 PM
I don't live in the states but Obama looks to be fantastic leader.
Posted By: Franco (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 08:13 PM
Obama has the momentum, no doubt about it. I just hope he pulls this off. A loss in Iowa would crush him.
Posted By: Catherine (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 08:14 PM
i've been supporting obama for awhile now but never thought he would actually win. but i gotta admit, i'm starting to think...maybe he can win...
Posted By: Ivan (Guest) on December 09, 2007 at 08:28 PM
I've been supporting Obama from the beginning and I'm so excited that he's finally getting the accolades he deserves. Thank you Oprah. It's just what we needed to get this party started.
Posted By: pamela (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 01:07 AM
If Obama gets as many of the undecided votes as I think he will, he is gonna win IA, NH and SC.
Posted By: guest (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 03:53 AM
Go Oprah! We ALL know if anyone can’t take the attention off of obama’s no experience lack of leadership, refusing to show up and vote in the senate on Iran, Abortion measures etc... Seeking a trillion-dollar tax hike and raising the retirement age for Social Security!!!! Is not in favor of a health care plan to cover all children rich or poor and that he cannot make a decision on his own.
You can….YOU have disgraced American woman, YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE FEMALE GENDER OPRAH! SHAME ON YOU, now as a last ditch effort you throw Dr Kings name at the black voters, now American knows where you stand on race…
SHAMEFUL ACT...I SUGGEST WE ALL TUNE OUT BOTH!!!
WAKE UP AMERICA! Its time we stop playing with Oprah and elect a QUALIFIED PRESIDENT!!! not just a man because he’s black and oprah says so, she may know soap and books, but why in he world would anyone jeopardize your future because a TV talk show host said so?... This weekends Oprah circus, will not help obama, its make us all realize Oprahs running the show not obama...Our great country needs a qualified leader, maybe if oprah was legally running, but obama is….
Glad the dog and pony show is over
Oprah is a shame to her gender, yes the same gender that made her who she is today and she turns her back on them in a second when race is involved...
I think its time WE ALL tune out the oprahbama show, and let’s elect a REAL Presidential candidate like CLINTON!
Posted By: http://www.obamatruth.org/ (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 10:02 AM
Hillary has fought the relentless and insidious efforts by far-right Republicans to limit the protections of Roe v Wade, while also working hard to expand access to family planning services.
Hillary has seen what happens when governments try to control a woman's reproductive health decisions. Whether it was Romania under a dictatorship saying you had to have children for the good of the state or China saying you had to have only one child for the good of the state, governments have dictated the most private and important decisions that we as individuals or families can make.
She has championed the Prevention First Act, which expands access to family planning services for low-income women, requires health insurance companies to cover contraception, and provides a dedicated funding stream for age-appropriate, medically accurate, comprehensive sex education.
As First Lady, she helped pass the Family and Medical Leave Act and helped found the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancies, which established and achieved a goal of reducing teen pregnancies by one-third between 1996 and 2005.
In partnership with Senator Patty Murray, Hillary waged a successful three-year battle to get the Food and Drug Administration to accept the overwhelming recommendation of the medical community and make Plan B (the "morning after" pill) available over the counter.
Hillary's work to empower low-income women has changed lives. She fought for the elimination of school fees, which prevent poor children in some countries from attending school, and for investments in health care and education for women and girls. And she helped found Vital Voices, a not-for-profit organization that continues to work to support women's leadership around the globe.
Posted By: CLINTON 2008 (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 10:04 AM
Good to see the Clinton staffers wasting time bloging instead of trying to find a way out of the disaster HRC has created. Sore losers.
OBAMA 08!!
Posted By: markfavs (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 02:45 PM
The only reason Oprah is supporting Obama is because they're both black. Oprah has NEVER supported any politician! This is just another case of reverse racism. AND, quite frankly, even though I dislike Hillary Clinton a lot, I have to agree that I'd rather have a president in office who went to kindergarten rather than a muslim terrorist training camp.
Posted By: Spyke (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 03:10 PM
The post above by Spyke is really really sad and full of inaccuracies. First of all, if Oprah is only supporting Obama because he is black, why didn't she endorse and give speeches for Jesse Jackson in 1988 when he ran? And your last comment about kindergarten makes no sense at all. Obama went to kindergarten. And also please stop spreading ignorant hate speech. Obama is not a muslim and has stated so many times.
Posted By: Snyder (Guest) on December 10, 2007 at 04:03 PM
I love the way Camp Hillary smears Obama's name and when it comes back to bite her apologizes. Obama, a Harvard Law grad, and former U Chicago Law prof is going to sell drugs now? Hill, that's all you got? You're disappointing ... Just because you are married to Bill doesn't mean you light a candle to him. Go Obama!
Posted By: CleanandArticulate (Guest) on December 13, 2007 at 08:22 PM
STAY CURRENT