History was made in Missouri (and around the country) yesterday. With a margin of less than 5,000 votes Barack Obama won Missouri's democratic primary.
I hope I'm not over emphasizing the significance if this, but only one candidate in U.S. History has won the presidency without winning MO. So the odds are on Obama's
side.
Currently, Obama has also won Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah.
While Hillary Clinton won large chunks of delegates in New York, Massachusetts and California, Obama was able to garner enough votes in middle America to almost tie Clinton on delegates.
Excitement is in the air here. Students, trade unionists, peace activists, and the African American community are rejoicing. Obama's call for change resonated loud and clear, especially in Missouri's urban centers – St. Louis and Kansas City.
While rural voters predominantly voted for Clinton, it was the African American, working class, urban core that put Obama over the top. With the help of a number of unions and community groups, including the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), the Service Employees Union (SEIU) and UNITE-HERE, Obama was able to mobilize the core of MO's progressive forces and put a dent in the Clinton election machine.
With more primaries still to come, this race is too close to call.
Missouri voters are also gearing up for another struggle. Right-wing, west-coast millionaire Ward Connerly and his financial backers are attempting put an anti-affirmative action ballot imitative on the MO ballot this November. Deceptively called the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, they need to collect 140,000 valid signatures in eight different congressional districts before May.
Jobs with Justice, ACORN and the WeCan Coalition (Working to Empower Community Action Now), mobilized close to 100 volunteers state-wide and did voter education work at over 200 polling locations yesterday to try to stop this anti-affirmative action initiative from getting on the ballot.
1 comment:
"...but only one candidate in U.S. History has won the presidency without winning MO...."
Let's see, now, there were Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Jackson, and -- how DID Karl Rove do in Mo.?
Was that Jeff Davis's miscalulation?
Warren
Post a Comment