By: Michael H. Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com, and Associated Press
Presidential candidate Barack Obama easily won the Democratic primary in Mississippi Tuesday with large support from African-American voters, setting the stage for another critical primary against Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, April 22.
In the latest in a string of racially polarized presidential contests across the Deep South, Obama was winning roughly 90 percent of the black vote but only about one-quarter of the white vote, extending a pattern that carried him to victory in earlier primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama was leading with 61 percent of the vote, to Clinton’s 37 percent. He leads in the delegate count 1607-1476.
"I am grateful to the people of Mississippi for joining the millions of Americans from every corner of the country who have chosen to turn the page on the failed politics of the past and embrace our movement for change," Obama said in a statement.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi who serves as Obama’s state coordinator, said Tuesday black voters in Mississippi were overwhelmingly drawn to Obama’s inspirational message.
"Sen. Obama’s message of hope and change resonates throughout Mississippi," Thompson told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday night. "In a state that has the highest percentage of poverty, the highest infant mortality rates and the lowest literacy rates, people can identify with a candidate who is talking about uplifting people."
Thompson said that Clinton’s continued dismissal of Obama’s victories in smaller states such as Mississippi smacks of a desperate campaign.
"Little victories over time add up to big victories because this is a numbers game," Thompson said.
Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that the repeated "put downs" by Clinton and her surrogates, like former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, only serves to motivate African-Americans to rally around Obama’s candidacy.
Ferraro, who ran for vice president in 1984 and supports Clinton today, started a firestorm of controversy Tuesday by saying, "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she said, according to an article published in the Daily Breeze. "And if he was a woman of any color he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
And after being roundly criticized by the Clinton campaign, the Obama camp and others, she suggested that she’s taking a pounding because she’s "white."
In an interview from Bolton, Mississippi, Thompson said the Clinton campaign’s criticisms of Obama are offensive for some black Americans because they, too, "have been told at some point that they don’t measure up."
The Clinton campaign continues to attack Obama, Thompson said, "because they have no other place to go."
Ferraro’s comments could not have come at a worse time for the Clinton campaign, and some Democrats say the constant infighting inside the Clinton camp has now turned to race as senior aides are trying to decide whether Clinton should abandon the African-American vote in Pennsylvania.
In the meantime, Democrats say Obama continues to add to his delegate count and multi-state victories.
"He has now won two expected back-to-back wins by impressive margins, which gives him 29 wins to her 14," Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African-American Policy at the University of Denver, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday night.
"In addition, he continues getting overwhelming support from African-Americans while simultaneously pulling in cross-over white voters, something critical for him for the general election should he win the primary," Groff said. "His lead is still solid -- still, his biggest challenge going into Pennsylvania is perception and momentum."
Obama’s triumph seemed unlikely to shorten a Democratic marathon expected to last at least six more weeks -- and possibly far longer -- while Republicans and their nominee-in-waiting, Sen. John McCain, turn their attention to the fall campaign.
"Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country," Maggie Williams, Clinton's campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his win.
"I'm confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified," Obama said as he collected his victory.
But in a race growing more contentious, he took a swipe at the way his rival's campaign has conducted itself.
"We've been very measured, in terms of how we talk about Sen. Clinton," he said. "I've been careful to say that I think Sen. Clinton is a capable person and that should she win the nomination, obviously, I would support her. I'm not sure we've been getting that same approach from the Clinton campaign," he said on CNN.
Obama won at least 17 delegates, and Clinton won at least 11, with five delegates still to be awarded.
"Sen. Obama's victory in Mississipi has provided his campaign with a powerful psychological boost after his victory in Wyoming just a few days ago," Michelle Bernard, president of the Independent Women’s Voice, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
"Winning an additional two primaries in the several weeks before the upcoming Pennsylvania primary was important to his campaign and his supporters after losing Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island to Sen. Clinton," Bernard said. "Now, both of the Democratic contenders will have several weeks to focus on Pennsylvania, honing their message and convincing superdelegates to support their respective candidacies. The candidate who wins the largest number of pledged delegates may stand the greatest chance of winning over undecided superdelegates and wooing the superdelegates of their competitor in the name of party unity."
Neither of the two rivals appears able to win enough delegates through primaries and caucuses to prevail in their historic race for the nomination, a development that has elevated the importance of nearly 800 elected officials and party leaders who will attend next summer's national convention as unelected superdelegates.
Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist and a superdelegate, said on CNN Tuesday that she felt the majority of the 300-plus super delegates who are "uncommitted" would ultimately agree to support the candidate with the most pledged delegates.
"It seems the Magnolia State has provided Sen. Barack Obama yet another victory -- additional delegates and seemingly a push towards Pennsylvania," Craig Kirby, a Democratic strategist, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "What's most exciting to me is that from Virginia to Texas and from Utah to Vermont, his message of change continues to resonate with the voters."
Blacks, who have supported Obama in overwhelming numbers in earlier primaries, accounted for roughly half the ballots cast in Mississippi, according to interviews with voters leaving polling places.
About one in six Democratic primary voters were independents, and Clinton and Obama split their support. Another 10 percent of voters were Republican, and they preferred Clinton by a margin of three to one.
Six in 10 Obama supporters said he should pick the former first lady as his vice presidential running mate if he wins the presidential nomination. A smaller share of Clinton's voters, four in 10, said she should place him on the ticket.
The Republican primary provided even less suspense than the Democratic contest. McCain had already amassed enough delegates to win his party's nomination and was in New York, attending an evening fundraiser that was expected to raise $1 million.
Adding to the uncertainty in the lengthening race between Obama and Clinton, Democrats from Florida and Michigan are pressing for their delegations to be seated at the summer convention.
Both states were stripped of their delegates by the Democratic National Committee after they held early primaries in defiance of party rules. Efforts are under way to find a compromise that would satisfy party leaders in both states as well as the candidates, although Obama and his top strategists were cool during the day to proposals for primaries-by-mail.
"I think there are some concerns in terms of making sure that whatever we do is fair and votes are properly counted and the logistics make sense," Obama told CNN.
Obama has defeated Clinton in primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, other states where blacks cast a large share of the ballots.
Exit polls showed blacks accounted for a majority of the ballots in all but Louisiana, where they represented a plurality. Obama's share of the black vote in those states ranged from 78 percent in South Carolina to 88 percent in Georgia, while Clinton won the white vote with ease.
After losing 12 straight primaries and caucuses, Clinton rebounded smartly last week with primary victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Obama won the Vermont primary, won the Texas caucuses, and suffered a loss of only 11 delegates.
Meanwhile, Groff said Obama has challenges ahead but suggested that his recent success could benefit other Democratic candidates down the road.
"It's highly unlikely that any Democratic nominee would win Wyoming and Mississippi in the general election, but his primary performance in these states suggests that his candidacy could help Democratic state races and contenders, making them competitive in places where they never were," Groff told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
"It also forces Republicans," he said, "to spend money in states they didn't have to defend before."
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