How Obama Out-Strategized ClintonRandy Shawbyline‚ Feb. 06‚ 2008The story of Super Tuesday 2008 is really quite simple. The Clinton campaign assumed several months ago that it could knock its competitors out of the race through big wins in New York, California, Massachusetts and New Jersey. It seemed to forget that the rules for apportioning delegates undermined this “big state” strategy, and by bypassing campaigning in a large number of other states, Clinton allowed Obama to rack up huge delegate percentages in places like Idaho and North Dakota. Obama better understood the rules of the game, and took advantage of Clinton’s ceding of states and delegates. Those complaining about Obama’s lack of focus on California and the large states learned last night why this strategy made so much sense. For example, according to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, Obama will take 23 of Kansas’ 32 delegates, and 46 of Minnesota’s 72. While the media was obsessed with Clinton’s victory in New York, between that state and Obama’s home base in Illinois, Obama will end up with 15 more delegates. For Obama to win 13 or 14 of the 22 states was inconceivable only a few weeks ago, and having overcome the steep challenge of Super Tuesday, he now heads toward a string of states where he is likely to prevail. |