Bloggers bring big net gain for Obama

Published on Monday 7 January 2008 21:29

BARACK Obama's support is snowballing ahead of today's New Hampshire primary thanks to the "blogosphere", with tens of thousands of internet users scrambling to jump on his bandwagon.

After his shock victory in Iowa last week, Mr Obama has opened a double-digit polls lead over his main rival, Hillary Clinton.

It is the internet that is accelerating his support, with bloggers organising events across the United States.

More than 4,000 support groups have registered on the Illinois senator's website, ranging from Diabetics for Obama to Americans in Italy for Obama.

His campaign staff have been forced to post an apology on his campaign site, because they have sold out of T-shirts, badges and other paraphernalia. The number of fundraising events has also exploded: Mr Obama's site lists 115 in the New York area alone, compared with only ten on Mrs Clinton's site.

Meanwhile, bloggers are jamming the Obama site with messages of support. Typical is this from "Pamina" in Florida: "My parents are in their late 70s and have NEVER voted for a democrat in their life. Team Obama not only has their vote but I somehow managed to get $20.00 out of them."

This new, wired generation, has overseen an extraordinary switch in voter preferences. Just last Thursday, Mrs Clinton led in New Hampshire, with 33 per cent to Mr Obama's 26 per cent. By Saturday, they were neck-and-neck on 33 per cent each, and yesterday, Mr Obama had a lead that some polls put at 13 per cent.

Mrs Clinton's own reaction was summed up by a one-word, front-page headline in the New York Post, "Panic". Scrambling to rebuild her lead, she launched barbed attacks on her rival yesterday, accusing him of making promises he could not deliver.

She also accused Mr Obama of hypocrisy, criticising his appointment of a campaign officer who is also an insurance-industry lobbyist. "If you're going to be railing about lobbyists, and then you have the chair of your campaign who is a major lobbyist in this state, that's a very important piece of information," she said.

Mr Obama hit back at the New York senator, saying her swipes at him were "depressing".

He invoked the memory of John F Kennedy as he criticised Mrs Clinton for accusing him of raising "false hopes" among voters. He said: "Senator Clinton saying, 'don't feed the American people false hopes?' Get a reality check. Can you picture JFK saying, 'we can't go to the Moon, it's a false hope'?"

At the weekend, Mr Obama went out of his way to call on independents and Republicans to vote for him – many in the Republican party are disillusioned both by the failures of the Bush administration and the dominance in their party of the Christian Right.

An Obama win in New Hampshire will not mean victory overall. This state, like Iowa, is small, with a famously whimsical electorate. The bigger test comes in the industrial-sized primaries in Nevada on 19 January, South Carolina on 26 January and Florida on 29 January. These, in turn, lead to Super Tuesday on 5 February, when 23 states will vote, and after which the presidential candidate may be anointed.

SURROUNDED BY SECURITY

SECRET Service agents are providing Barack Obama with a level of security nearing that of the president, George Bush.

A dozen agents wearing dark suits and earpieces sweep all venues prior to his appearance and flank the candidate as he plunges into crowds of supporters.

The concerns for Mr Obama's safety are not unfounded – Colin Powell, a former US secretary of state, ruled out a run for the White House in part because his wife feared he would be assassinated by people angry at a black man taking the nation's highest office.

No-one will say whether Mr Obama has received a death threat — his campaign team said only: "We don't comment on security."

Romney sees his lead shrink as rival Republicans reap benefit

Glen Johnson

REPUBLICAN presidential candidate Mitt Romney is working furiously to avoid a defeat in New Hampshire to Senator John McCain, only days after he was beaten in Iowa by Mike Huckabee.

Mr Romney had banked on victories in both states to propel his campaign forward.

The resurgent Mr McCain, leading Mr Romney in the latest opinion poll, set off on a seven-city swing dubbed "The Mac Is Back" bus tour. Optimism was mixed with nostalgia as the Arizona senator sought a repeat of his surprise win in the New Hampshire primary during his first White House run eight years ago.

"We've had a great time," Mr McCain told hundreds of sign-carrying supporters. "My friends, it has been an uplifting and wonderful experience."

Iowa's Republican winner, Mr Huckabee, said on Monday he was not counting on winning a top spot in New Hampshire's primary. Support from evangelicals cemented his Iowa victory, and he was not expected to find those votes in the north-eastern state.

Still, he lured more than 400 people to the tiny town of Mason on Monday morning to hear his populist economic message. The crowd had to be divided into two sittings to hear Mr Huckabee and his campaign sidekick, actor Chuck Norris.

"The reason our campaign is getting lots of folks just like you out there with energy and enthusiasm is because there's a great need in this country to elect someone who reminds them of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off," he said.

"That's why our campaign is getting deep roots even in New Hampshire."

A new USA Today/Gallup poll showed that Mr McCain had 34 per cent, up from 27 per cent in mid-December, while Mr Romney had 30 per cent, down from 34 per cent. Mr Huckabee was third with 13 per cent, while Representative Ron Paul of Texas and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani were tied at 8 per cent.