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Posted on 02/07/2008 6:17:59 PM PST by jdm
SEATTLE -- Moving beyond their Super Tuesday split decision, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama turned their attention to delegate-rich Washington in advance of Saturday's Democratic and Republican caucuses.
John McCain, newly in command of the GOP nomination for the White House after his top challenger, Mitt Romney, suspended his bid on Thursday, also planned to continue his delegate hunt here -- and offer the opening salvos of his general election campaign.
The personal visits by the top three presidential hopefuls should send caucus attendance soaring, said the state Republican and Democratic chairmen.
"I expect a rip-roaring turnout," said the Republicans' Luke Esser.
Democratic Chairman Dwight Pelz said the Clinton-Obama race is essentially a tie nationally and that the delegate hunt could last another month, or even stretch all the way to the national convention in Denver in August. He declined to predict a winner in the caucuses, but said the anti-war state will definitely go for the Democratic ticket in November.
The state hasn't gone Republican for president since Ronald Reagan ran in 1980 and 1984.
"We expect a huge, record-breaking turnout for the caucuses," Pelz said. "We've planned on 125,000 and it could be 200,000. People are very excited."
The neighborhood gatherings are on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m., at hundreds of schoolhouses, church basements, union halls and living rooms. All registered voters are welcome, but must identify themselves as a party member at least for the day.
Democrats will allocate all 78 of their elected national delegates through the process, and Republicans will use results to allot about half of their 37 elected delegates.
The state also has a presidential primary, conducted mostly via mail, on Feb. 19. Republicans will use results to elect half of their national delegates, but Democrats view the primary as a nonbinding popularity contest and won't use it to allocate delegates.
Secretary of State Sam Reed said the white-hot coverage of this week's Super Tuesday events and the Democrats' continuing duel now puts the state in the national spotlight. He expects record turnout for both the caucuses and primary.
Polls and independent analysis forecast an Obama victory in the Democratic caucuses, although Clinton forces are pressing hard.
McCain is favored for the Republicans, but Esser cautioned that not even the senator himself is taking the nomination for granted. Backers of Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, already heavily involved in organizing for the caucuses, hoped to win over some Romney supporters.
McCain picked up the endorsement of Rep. Dave Reichert, the only Republican congressman from Western Washington. Reichert had been state chairman for Rudy Giuliani, who has dropped out of the race.
Six Seattle City Council members -- Richard Conlin, Tim Burgess, Bruce Harrell, Nick Licata, Richard McIver and Tom Rasmussen -- endorsed Obama. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels had previously endorsed him.
Clinton planned to be the first to arrive back in the state that all the major candidates have wooed repeatedly. She scheduled a public rally Thursday night on the Seattle waterfront, a favorite venue when her husband Bill twice campaigned for president. The two most recent nominees, Al Gore and John Kerry, also stumped in heavily Democratic Seattle.
Clinton also planned events in Tacoma and Spokane on Friday. She was scheduled at a nurses rally at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma and at a Spokane town hall meeting.
Obama, meanwhile, planned to overlap her with a return visit of his own. He planned to arrive from Nebraska Thursday night, with no public events, and then headline a rally late Friday morning at the KeyArena in Seattle.
His wife, Michelle Obama, will lead a rally at 3 p.m. Friday at the Fox Theater in Spokane.
Obama spokesman Jeff Giertz said Obama has a strong ground organization.
"We're in a strong position," he said. "It's a tight race, but Senator Obama has good momentum and we do well in caucus states."
Clinton backers reported a surge in support since Super Tuesday and said they will do well in Washington.
McCain planned to sweep into Seattle later Friday, arriving at Boeing Field and then heading downtown for an event with supporters at The Westin Hotel.
His state director, Seattle attorney Chris Fidler, said Romney's departure could mean gains for McCain, but that the campaign takes nothing for granted yet.
"We're still fighting like there's no tomorrow," he said. "We're still pursuing our strategy of getting people trained and willing to give an hour and a half of their time on a Saturday afternoon to caucus."
Ron Paul visited the state last week and Huckebee has campaigned here. Huckebee's wife, Janet, planned to visit Kirkland on Friday.
On Saturday, Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska and the U.S. Virgin Islands also are voting.
At least according to the "official" vote count.
I want to see Hillary win the nomination and then Osama launch a third party candidacy. Never happen.....But I can dream.
I voted by mail and will be at a caucus Saturday.
“I expect a rip-roaring turnout,” said the Republicans’ Luke Esser.
Three dogs and a cat.
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Say WA? Evergreen State ping
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Infuriating but true.
I'm taking my 18 year old son to the Island Co. (So. Whidbey) caucus today. Should be interesting.
Cowlitz County Republican Party
Our Delegate Presidential Preference count:
(This is the indicated Presidential Preference of those elected as a Delegate to the County Convention)
Romney - 96 (32%)
Huckabee - 80 (26.6%)
Paul - 52 (17.3%)
McCain - 49 (16.3%)
Uncommitted - 23 (7.6%)
http://www.cowlitzrepublicans.com/caucus2008
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