Comments on: Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins

By: StockBoySF

StockBoySF — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 20:51:31 +0000

denisedh, thanks for your insights. Given the concerns you outlined in your last post, I would have thought Hillary would have more appeal. It's interesting that Obama won your county by 45 pts. In your county, was there any concern that Hillary was too negative or divisive or otherwise playing unfairly?

By: pacatrue

pacatrue — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:57:44 +0000

In Hawaii, my caucus site used paper ballots. There was essentially no difference between a primary and a caucus, except for the caucus only ran for about 3 hours. People walked in; proved they were Democrats; voted on a paper ballot; and walked out. But we also had close to 4,000 participants at a single site while they were only planning for a few hundred (at most). Perhaps at smaller caucus sites there was actual discussion. The list of registered Democrats doubled on a single night.

By: Mike_P

Mike_P — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 07:47:15 +0000

Joe Trippi sez - "A failure of her campaign — not a failure of Clinton as a candidate — may have cost Hillary the nomination."

I emphatically disagree, Mr. Trippi. Hillary Clinton's campaign *is* Hillary. She is the CEO, the "Commanding General," etc. She approved the strategy, surely sat in on the brainstorming, and on and on. These are her failures, every bit as much as the wins are hers to claim and bask in.

She can not legitimately claim to be "ready on day one," when she's been repeatedly caught flat-footed in a presidential primary nomination cycle that she and her husband know more about than any other living Democrats, having done all this twice before.

And this - "The Clinton campaign did not respond to a request for a comment."

Sad, really. How many spokespersons do you employ and at what cost - and "did not respond to a request for a comment" is all you get?

Fail.

By: denisedh

denisedh — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:39:27 +0000

Peter,
My county supported Obama at 73% and Clinton 28%. Voters were very excited but also very concerned. The economy and access to health care were the most often mentioned. Next, the war in Iraq. Wyoming and eastern Uinta County are experiencing an energy boom, but that pushed housing prices much higher and currently my hometown is overbuilt with new expensive homes that aren't selling well now. Also, energy work is very hard physically and often involves being away from home for long periods and much of the population here is actually older (it's been predicted that Wyoming will have one of the highest rates of retirees nationally in a few years) so even though that works pays well, many people don't see it as an option. a job in the oilfield would be hard for many single parents. that's my take on it.

By: Peter_Allen

Peter_Allen — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:14:50 +0000

Denise, what was the general mood of those around you? Could you pick out any underlying issues that were more important than others?

By: denisedh

denisedh — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:00:31 +0000

I'm sorry, I should have proof read better. I meant to say the larger counties are Natrona, Laramie. Albany, Sweetwater, Campbell.

By: denisedh

denisedh — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:59:23 +0000

I am in Uinta county, WY, which is a medium sized counties (those are Natrona, Laramie, Albany, Sweetwater, Campbell). We just raised our hands and we counted. I believe the bigger counties used paper ballots. Our turnout was 172 (in 2004 it was about 30). Albany county had over 1400.

By: MaryL

MaryL — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:45:21 +0000

Andrew Sullivan says that most of the counties in the Wyoming caucus used paper ballots versus the herd-to-the-side-of-the-room-and-call-out method to count votes. Can you confirm this?

If this was an unorthodox caucus, then this is more evidence that Clinton is failing to reach these voters, even though they vote by the method she thinks is most fair -- at least, what she recently thinks is most fair. I haven't been able to find any statements from her from 2007 or earlier re the validity of caucuses.

By: wyoming republican party

wyoming republican party — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:01:50 +0000

[...] Natrona County, one of the largest showings in the Republican-dominant county. …www.kansascity.comWyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins The trend continues where Democratic Senator Barack Obama does great in caucuses and not always as [...]

By: Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins · The Spin Doctor

Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins · The Spin Doctor — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:58:07 +0000

[...] God is for Suckers! – Commentary, news, and rants on the evils and stupidity of belief in the big in… wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt The trend continues where Democratic Senator Barack Obama does great in caucuses and not always as great in primaries — as he scores a solid win in Wyoming: Senator Barack Obama continued his string of victories in caucus states on Saturday, beating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Wyoming by a wide margin. The victory, while in a state with only 18 delegates, was welcome news for the Obama campaign as it sought to blunt Mrs. Clinton’s momentum coming off her victories in Ohio and Texas on T [...]

By: Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins · SmokeSignalz

Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins · SmokeSignalz — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:31:34 +0000

[...] The Carpetbagger Report – Commentary and Analysis on Politics in America by Steve Benen wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt The trend continues where Democratic Senator Barack Obama does great in caucuses and not always as great in primaries — as he scores a solid win in Wyoming: Senator Barack Obama continued his string of victories in caucus states on Saturday, beating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Wyoming by a wide margin. The victory, while in a state with only 18 delegates, was welcome news for the Obama campaign as it sought to blunt Mrs. Clinton’s momentum coming off her victories in Ohio and Texas on T [...]

By: Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins

Wyoming Caucuses: Obama Wins — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:06:30 +0000

[...] Chicago Metblogs wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt The trend continues where Democratic Senator Barack Obama does great in caucuses and not always as great in primaries — as he scores a solid win in Wyoming: Senator Barack Obama continued his string of victories in caucus states on Saturday, beating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Wyoming by a wide margin. The victory, while in a state with only 18 delegates, was welcome news for the Obama campaign as it sought to blunt Mrs. Clinton’s momentum coming off her victories in Ohio and Texas on T [...]