Washington Is the Contest du Jour

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Washington Is the Contest du Jour

By JULIE BOSMAN and JEFF ZELENY
Published: February 9, 2008

TACOMA, Wash. — Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama crisscrossed Washington State on Friday, drawing standing-room-only crowds as they campaigned only miles apart on the eve of Saturday’s Democratic caucuses.

Speaking at a rally attended by 6,000 people, Mrs. Clinton stood onstage with Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, and took Mr. Obama to task over his health care plan, which she said would leave millions uninsured, including “more than 250,000 right here in Washington.”...

In nearby Seattle, at the Key Arena, where the N.B.A.’s SuperSonics play, about 17,000 people gathered to see Mr. Obama, filling the building and leaving nearly 3,000 people waiting outside. He barely referred to Mrs. Clinton, instead urging Democrats and like-minded independents to join allegiances. “I think we have been spending so much time on our differences that we never seem to spend time on what we have in common,” Mr. Obama said. He collected an endorsement from Gov. Christine Gregoire, who referred to Mr. Obama as a candidate who could “stop the division in politics.” When he walked onto the arena floor, the audience thundered with applause. It was one of the largest — and, it seemed, most adoring — crowds to greet Mr. Obama in recent weeks....

With Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama engaged in a fight for delegates to the national convention, the state of Washington’s 78 pledged delegates are highly coveted by the two Democrats. Mr. Obama has been organizing in the state for nearly a year, with five offices here. Mrs. Clinton has spent as much time here as he has, and began running a television advertisement this week, focusing on health care. But Mrs. Clinton, who has not done as well in the caucus states as Mr. Obama has, winning only two of nine so far, suggested that she did not expect to win in Washington, as many of her supporters would be too busy working to break away from their schedules and spend the time to caucus for her. “If this were a primary, where everybody could vote all day, I’d feel pretty good about it,” she said. “But it’s not. It’s a caucus.”

In addition to Washington, Louisiana and Nebraska are also holding contests on Saturday. Mr. Obama spent time Thursday in Louisiana, which has a primary, and in Nebraska, which has a caucus, before arriving in Seattle. Mrs. Clinton has not campaigned recently in Louisiana or Nebraska, though her husband appeared in Louisiana on Friday....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/09/us/politics/09campaign.html?hp

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