By Peter J. Smith
DES MOINES, Iowa, May 20, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Senator Barack Obama is poised to claim a decisive win over fellow pro-abortion contender Sen. Hillary Clinton in his long march to secure the Democratic presidential nomination. Returns from today’s Democratic primary contests in Oregon and Kentucky are expected to give the Democratic senator enough delegates to put him very close to the absolute majority required to secure the nomination, although his rival insists she will continue the fight through the final Democratic primaries on June 3. At the time of writing Fox News projects that Clinton has won today’s Kentucky primary.
So far Obama has the momentum of the party behind him and his projected victory in Oregon, a liberal stronghold, should give him both a majority of pledged delegates and a further edge among super-delegates. Obama leads Clinton in the delegate race 1,915 to 1,721, a margin of 194, however he will need a total of 2,026 delegates to clinch the nomination before the Democratic Party’s national convention in August.
Oregon and Kentucky will provide a total of 103 delegates, and although Clinton was expected to take Kentucky, her victory will not put much of a dent into Obama’s lead. The real prize is Oregon, which represents the heart, soul, and enthusiasm of the Democratic Party’s base and younger voters attracted by Obama’s dynamism. Both Obama and Clinton have fought vociferously over who better represents the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual interests of the party over the past few months. However Obama has seized the imagination of the base and last Sunday in Portland he attracted an estimated crowd of 75,000 in a rally that has been dubbed the “Obama Mass.”
Obama’s win in Oregon will likely provoke more superdelegates – those party officials who will vote as free agents at the Democratic National Convention in August – to join him. The AP reports that Obama has 304.5 superdelegates to Clint’s 277.5.
It appears that the contests will continue until the South Dakota and Montana primaries on June 3, which should put an end to a primary battle that has been exhausting and drawn-out for Democrats forced to choose which candidate will push the most pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, leftist issues as their presidential nominee. Clinton is likely to negotiate an end to her candidacy at that point, since she risks the ire of the party if she continues. Such a move would be seen as deliberately hurting Obama and the party’s chance to unite against Republican nominee Sen. John McCain.
Ordinarily the internecine Democratic primary battle would be good news for Republicans, however the GOP faces massive discontent in its conservative base, and is expected to suffer further losses in the House and Senate in November. McCain has a particularly weak history with conservatives. The Arizona Senator sponsored unprecedented free speech restrictions muzzling the right of pro-life organizations to speak out on a candidate’s record in the months leading up to an election, has a stormy relationship with religious conservatives, stonewalled a maneuver by Senate Republicans to approve President Bush’s conservative judicial nominees, and has supported embryonic stem-cell research despite an otherwise pro-life record.
McCain has tried to assuage conservatives about his commitment to install conservative justices should he become the President, something that a President Obama or Clinton would definitely not do. The recent decision of the California Supreme Court to legalize same-sex “marriage” as a “natural right” may also give a further boast to McCain from conservatives worried about the appointment of activist judges to the Supreme Court.
Members of the McCain campaign have mentioned a number of pro-life conservative vice-presidential running mates, who would strengthen McCain’s credibility among conservative voters, which McCain will need if he hopes for victory over Obama in November. Bobby Jindal, the young 34-year old pro-life governor of Louisiana – described as “the next Ronald Reagan” by conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh -has been mentioned as a possible vice-presidential pick. Jindal has said he is “100% pro-life with no exceptions” telling reporters “I believe all life is precious.”
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Obama: “Biggest Mistake” Was Vote to Help Terri Schiavo
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08022805.html
“Philosopher of Abortion Movement” Says Obama A Better Choice than Hillary
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/feb/08021910.html
Louisiana Elects Young, Strongly Pro-Life Governor
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/oct/07102308.html