It was, as nearly everyone among the thousands of jubilant supporters recognised, a little slice of history. Barack Obama, once seen as a most improbable presidential candidate, before their eyes had been declared the Democratic nominee and the first African-American to have a real shot at winning the White House.
He has been a near-constant presence at hundreds of Barack Obama rallies across the United States over the past 15 months. David Axelrod, a melancholy, dishevelled figure with a drooping moustache, is Obama’s campaign strategist, and has overseen his rise from political obscurity to the verge of the White House.
Barack Obama, setting his sights well beyond Tuesday’s primary against Hillary Clinton, on Sunday began preparations for a summer series of debates against the Republican John McCain. While Clinton campaigned doggedly in West Virginia, which holds its primary on Tuesday, the Obama camp consolidated its claim on the Democratic nomination.
Barack Obama’s fiery former minister thrust his way back into the United States presidential campaign on Monday, again placing the divisive issue of race at the heart of the Democratic White House tussle. An unapologetic Reverend Jeremiah Wright hit back at weeks of criticism over his incendiary comments.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are preparing for a long and potentially brutal struggle for the Democratic presidential nomination, with both campaign teams hinting darkly about resorting to even more negative tactics as the race progresses.
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/ 6 February 2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will have no time to pause after yesterday’s Super Tuesday performances before they head off into a fresh 72-hour marathon of coast-to-coast contests. Seven states are at stake, worth 467 delegates, almost a quarter of the 2 025 delegates needed for eventual victory.
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/ 5 February 2008
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spent the final, tension-filled hours before Tuesday’s Super Tuesday primaries squeezing out votes in the East Coast battlefield states where opinion polls place the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination almost neck and neck.
Barack Obama is nearly two hours late when he takes the stage, flashes that smile, and says in that instantly recognisable baritone: ”Good afternoon, believers.” Everybody wants to say they have seen Obama — up close — before New Hampshire holds its primary on Tuesday.