Now it's a test of Clinton clout vs. Obama cash

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Now it's a test of Clinton clout vs. Obama cash
Her party ties and his growing edge in fundraising take on greater significance as the race remains tight.
By Mark Z. Barabak and Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
February 7, 2008


(Lauren Victoria Burke/AP)
Sen. Barack Obama returned to Washington Wednesday after Super Tuesday.

...."We're in for a state-by-state, delegate-by-delegate slog to the finish and it's likely to remain very close," said Mark Mellman, a longtime Democratic pollster who is neutral in the primary. The contest is not so much a split over issues or ideology, though the candidates have differences. Rather, it has turned into a competition between coalitions. For Clinton, it is women, Latinos, older voters and the economically hard-pressed. For Obama, it is men, African Americans, younger and more upscale voters.

Each would appear to enjoy advantages in upcoming contests. For Obama, it starts Saturday in Louisiana -- a state with a large black population -- and continues Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, all of which combine big African American populations with pockets of affluent white voters.

For Clinton, the prospects look promising next month in Texas -- which is heavily Latino -- and Ohio, an industrial state that has struggled economically. From now on virtually all the major contests are primaries -- not caucuses -- and Clinton has done better in primary states.

The candidates have other strengths. Clinton, long the front-runner in the contest, leads Obama among "super delegates" -- the party leaders and elected officials whose status automatically gives them a vote at the convention. There are nearly 800 of them and these members of the party establishment could prove decisive if Clinton and Obama are still effectively tied at the end of the primary season in June. "My guess is we'll know the nominee before we get to the convention, almost certainly as a result of what the super delegates choose to do and how they choose to do it,' Mellman said.

Obama enjoys a growing financial edge, thanks not just to the tens of millions of dollars he has raised -- he slightly trails Clinton in overall receipts -- but the way he has brought in his money. Clinton has relied heavily on large donors, at least half of whom have already given the maximum allowed by law. By contrast, Obama has built an extensive network of small givers who are free to keep donating until they hit the $2,300 federal contribution ceiling....

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-dems7feb07,0,4340317.story

[Radical Activist]

1. The fact that a national figure like Clinton, a former first lady, is behind in fundraising

speaks volumes. Especially considering the amount of support Obama gets from small donors. Just amazing.

[tyne]

2. To Obama's benefit

her fresh supply came after comments that she invested (loan plus interest) 5 mil to the campaign.

Will this continue? If not, what then?

$2.4 mil is not going to get her very far.