US Presedential Race Begins

Reluctant Hero · US Presedential Race Begins

The race to become the most powerful man, or potentially women, on the planet has begun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7170064.stm

Iowa set to open US election race

Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls undergo their first real test of public opinion in a few hours as the US election process begins in Iowa.
Candidates are making final appeals for support, with both the Republican and Democratic races too close to call.

At caucuses, or local meetings, across Iowa, voters will decide which of the contenders to back for nomination.

The caucuses begin at around 1900 local time (0030GMT) with results expected to appear within an hour or two.

Most opinion polls suggest an extremely tight three-way race between Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards.

The latest survey by Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby showed Senator Obama just ahead of Mr Edwards, with Senator Clinton in third place.

The same poll also showed Mike Huckabee extending his lead over his nearest rival Mitt Romney for the Republicans.

KEY DATES
3 Jan: Iowa caucuses
8 Jan: New Hampshire primary
15 Jan: Michigan primary
19 Jan: Nevada caucuses; South Carolina primary (Rep)
26 Jan: South Carolina primary (Dem)
29 Jan: Florida primary
5 Feb: some 20 states including California, New York, New Jersey

But after months of being courted by the politicians and surveyed by the polling organisations, Iowa voters now have their say as the contest begins in earnest.

On Thursday evening, (from 0030GMT), Iowans will gather at more than 1,780 locations across the state to choose delegates, the start of a selection process that culminates in the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions in summer.

Iowa's Republican caucuses, which use straw polls, are relatively straightforward so the result is expected from around 0100GMT.

At the Democratic caucuses, voters publicly divide into groups, gathering in different corners of a room to show their support for the different candidates, and delegates are allocated accordingly.

The result of this contest is expected from 0300GMT on Friday.

Winter cold

Given the closeness of the vote, rivals chased the last wavering voters in a bid to take Iowa and so give their campaigns crucial momentum.

"Walk quick, talk fast," said Barack Obama to his supporters as they tried to drum up support for him in the winter cold.

"I feel good but it depends on who comes out, who decides to actually put on their coats, warm up their cars and go the caucuses," said Mrs Clinton.

Mr Romney, who has spent millions campaigning in Iowa, damped down expectations, saying he would settle for second place, the Associated Press reported.

But not all contenders were focused on Iowa. Republican Rudy Giuliani, who trails well behind in the Iowa polls but who has been leading nationally, was in Florida on Thursday, making a bid for that state's nomination when it holds its primary on 29 January.

The Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary on 8 January are regarded as key for building momentum in the state-by-state process of winning the presidential nomination.

Candidates who do poorly tend to drop out of the race. Polls from New Hampshire have indicated that the Republican contest is between Mr Romney and Senator John McCain, while for the Democrats Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama lead the field.

azzuri

Obama has it...

macnumpty

Huckabee took the first in Iowa, though it seems that Romney has a fairly convincing lead in Wyoming.

RadgeJougal · Re: US Presedential Race Begins

sandmountainslim

Shoes unto all the winners!
The only honest candidates are Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.
Alot of talk about Edwards in my neck of the woods but I myself could never vote for a Fop especially one with Statist Leanings.
WP

Celtic Indian

Reluctant Hero

Clinton and Obama win in New Hampshire.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7178168.stm

azzuri

God, the American polls, for all the 'drama', are oh so predictable...

mairead

Lord help the USA if the Clinton woman gets in. I've had an instinctive dislike of Hilary Clinton since the first time I set eyes on her. Another Thatcher.

doodells

Its all a little bit too much for me to take... why dont they just give us the final result when it is finished at the end of the year? its not exactly intellectually stimulating listening to their speeches. Its never out the papers now or off the tele. Our special relationship with the USA brings us terrorist attacks and boredom attacks through the media, I just hope the intangiable benefits (that I cant see) are worth it all.

Obama looks a bit better than the rest I've seen but what really bugs me is that when asked, the public don't seem to have reasons other than 'he's got charisma' or 'we can trust her' etc.

mairead

I wouldn't trust Hilary as far as I could throw her.

kevin04

Certainly looks interesting now that Obama and Clinton have won one and Huckabee and McCain have won as well,

Mitt Romney - the guy who´s stuck the most money into the campaign again not doing so great, according to bbc´s pollwatch Rudy Guilliani is ahead in opinion polls, even though he polled badly in the past 2 states.

long way to go as they say

Reluctant Hero

The latest primaries and caucuses have taken place in the US Presidential race.

A bit early to call, but Romney leads the race for the Republican nomination and Obama leads the way for the Democrats.

In the next ten days there are primaries in South Carolina and Florida. Florida is often said to be key Wink

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7199181.stm

kevin04

the republican side is looking very interesting, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/629/629/7145238.stm

Reluctant Hero

Thompson is the first one to pull out of the race

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7203575.stm

Reluctant Hero

Looks like two more are about to bite the dust in the race to the White House.

John Edwards has definitely pulled out and it looks like Rudy Giuliani is about to follow.

Looking good for John McCain on the Republican side and Clinton on the Democrat side at the moment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7217838.stm

Reluctant Hero

Obama takes the lead for the Democratic nomination

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7240399.stm

Obama wins primaries clean sweep

Barack Obama appears to be on a winning streak

Barack Obama
Illinois Senator Barack Obama looks set to overtake his rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In the latest round of primaries, Mr Obama has clinched Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

But neither has secured enough party delegates to secure the nomination to contest November's presidential poll.

For the Republicans, Senator John McCain is on course to win all three races, beating rival Mike Huckabee.

With eight consecutive primary wins behind him, Mr Obama is beginning to look formidable and the manner of his victory on Tuesday looks ominous for Mrs Clinton, says the BBC's North America editor, Justin Webb.

Halfway there

"Tonight we're on our way," Mr Obama told supporters in Wisconsin, which will hold the next primary on 19 February.

DemocratsRepublicansHillary Clinton
12 states, 1,198 delegates
Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee
Barack Obama
21 states, 1,223 delegates
Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington state
2,025 delegates needed for nomination. Source AP (includes all kinds of delegates)

Mrs Clinton, who has recently lost a number of key staff, indicated she would be focusing on the races in Ohio and Texas in March as her best hope to retake the lead.

"We're going to sweep across Texas in the next three weeks," she said, making no mention of the three contests she lost.

"I'm tested, I'm ready, let's make it happen," she told supporters.

Each Democratic candidate is about halfway to winning the 2,025 delegates needed to secure victory at the party's national convention in August.

With most of the Tuesday's votes counted, Mr Obama has edged into the lead with 1,223 delegates to Mrs Clinton's 1,198 delegates, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Mrs Clinton's deputy campaign manager, Mike Henry, reportedly stepped down on Monday, in a shake-up coming only a day after her campaign manager left.

Meanwhile Mr McCain, who holds a strong lead over his Republican rival Mike Huckabee, told supporters he was "fired up and ready to go".

Significant lead

With results counted in almost all of Virginia's precincts, Mr McCain led by 50% to Mr Huckabee's 41%.

In the District of Columbia, Mr McCain took 68% of the Republican vote to 17% for Mr Huckabee, with almost all the votes counted. Congressman Ron Paul took 8%.

Mr McCain's victories mean he extends his significant lead in terms of the number of delegates who will vote for him at the party's national convention.

But correspondents say Mr McCain still has some work to do to unite his party, amid continuing criticisms from leading party members who have questioned his conservative credentials.

Mr Huckabee has been under pressure to stand aside for the sake of party unity, but has said he has no intention of pulling out.

Exit polls suggest he won the support of very conservative voters in Virginia by nearly three to one, while Mr McCain was backed by somewhat conservative and moderate Republicans.

Broad appeal

In Virginia, Mr Obama was leading by 64% to Mrs Clinton's 35.5%, with almost all precincts reporting.

His margin of victory was even greater in Washington DC, where he led by 75% to 24% with almost all the votes counted.

NEXT CONTESTS
19 Feb: Wisconsin (bi-party), Hawaii caucus (D)
4 March: Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont (bi-party)

Analysts suggested the most significant aspect of Mr Obama's success was his broadening appeal across different demographic groups.

Exit polls conducted for AP in Virginia suggested Mr Obama had won the support of two-thirds of men and almost six in 10 women.

Mr Obama also made gains with women voters, who have been a core constituency for Mrs Clinton in past contests, and with white men and Latino voters.

And nine in 10 black voters in Virginia backed the Illinois senator, an even bigger margin than in previous primaries.

The economy was the top issue for both Democratic and Republican voters in the so-called Potomac primary, named after the river that runs through the two states and the nation's capital.

Morph

I just seem to trust Obama more than the others, and god help us if the Republicans get in again.

Reluctant Hero

Clinton keeps the race alive for the Democrat nominee elections by winning the Pennsyvanian Primary.

Will the Democrats be that divided by the time the candidate is decided, that they will hand the Presidency to the Republicans?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7362188.stm

azzuri

Remarkly, the Democrats are so split over this that they have shot themselves in the foot.

Might Al Gore be the only candidate to unite the bitter divide between 2 the camps...?

Wink

Reluctant Hero

Obama has won the Democrat nomination although Clinton is still not acknowleding the fact Laughing

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7434791.stm

Alasdair

Scott2006

Obama has had historic front pages in the US newspapers
the typical "DESTINY" headline with a big picture of him underneath.

Of course, if you were slightly dyslexic you may have read that as "DENSITY".

I just hope that Obama can handle the eavesdropping and constant surveillance better than, say, Richard Nixon, if he got into office. There are certain problems being in office, and in any way irresponsible - Bubba Clinton forgot those that report to him, also report on him to the safety apparatus of the state, to use a bad russian translation.

Reluctant Hero

US Presedential Race Begins

Re: US Presedential Race Begins