Mississippi post-mortem
March 14th 2008 00:52
On Tuesday, Democratic and Republican primaries were held in Mississippi. The results were as follows:
Democrats --
Obama won. He got 61% of the votes while Clinton got 37%.
Republicans --
McCain, the presumptive nominee, got 79% of the votes. Huckabee received 13% and Ron Paul received 4%.
Takeaways:
Democrats --
As has been the case in other states, race played a big factor in this primary. However, the racial divide was even more pronounced in Mississippi than it was in previous contests. Exit polls showed that Obama got 90% of the African-American vote. Clinton got the votes of around 70% of whites. Such clear lines of demarcation could spell big trouble in the fall after one of the Democratic candidates is eliminated (especially if someone is viewed as winning unfairly). And if the importance of race hasn't been underscored enough already, Hillary Clinton felt it was necessary this week to apologize to African-American voters after some comments by former Vice-Presidential nominee and current Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro were viewed by many as being racially insensitive. At a time when the Democrats would like to be rallying around a consensus nominee, they find themselves more divided than ever.
Republicans --
With McCain having already won enough delegates to secure the nomination, the GOP's Mississippi primary wasn't too suspenseful. Still, more than 1 in 5 Republican voters chose not to vote for McCain even though no one else is left standing. It just underscores how much work McCain has to do in winning over conservatives. McCain seems to have some appeal amongst independents, but he'll need every vote he can get in November. If a sizeable portion of the GOP base stays home or votes against him, he won't have a chance of winning.
Up next (excluding the Virgin Islands): Pennsylvania on April 22nd
Democrats --
Obama won. He got 61% of the votes while Clinton got 37%.
Republicans --
McCain, the presumptive nominee, got 79% of the votes. Huckabee received 13% and Ron Paul received 4%.
Takeaways:
Democrats --
As has been the case in other states, race played a big factor in this primary. However, the racial divide was even more pronounced in Mississippi than it was in previous contests. Exit polls showed that Obama got 90% of the African-American vote. Clinton got the votes of around 70% of whites. Such clear lines of demarcation could spell big trouble in the fall after one of the Democratic candidates is eliminated (especially if someone is viewed as winning unfairly). And if the importance of race hasn't been underscored enough already, Hillary Clinton felt it was necessary this week to apologize to African-American voters after some comments by former Vice-Presidential nominee and current Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro were viewed by many as being racially insensitive. At a time when the Democrats would like to be rallying around a consensus nominee, they find themselves more divided than ever.
Republicans --
With McCain having already won enough delegates to secure the nomination, the GOP's Mississippi primary wasn't too suspenseful. Still, more than 1 in 5 Republican voters chose not to vote for McCain even though no one else is left standing. It just underscores how much work McCain has to do in winning over conservatives. McCain seems to have some appeal amongst independents, but he'll need every vote he can get in November. If a sizeable portion of the GOP base stays home or votes against him, he won't have a chance of winning.
Up next (excluding the Virgin Islands): Pennsylvania on April 22nd
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Angry Electorate