CHEYENNE, WYO — . -- In a sparsely populated state that unexpectedly found itself at the center of the Democratic political universe this week, Sen. Barack Obama handily beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in caucuses Saturday. The victory gave a psychological lift to a campaign that had had an uncharacteristically difficult week.
Obama bested Clinton in Wyoming with 61% of the vote to her 38%, giving him seven delegates and her five.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday, March 10, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 78 words Type of Material: Correction
Wyoming Democrats: In an article about the caucuses in Sunday's Section A, the last name of the Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman John Millin was misspelled Mullin. Also, in some editions, the article incorrectly said that nearly 500 delegates remained to be awarded in upcoming contests and a little more than 100 superdelegates remained uncommitted. In fact, about 600 delegates remain to be awarded in the upcoming contests, and about 300 superdelegates have not indicated which candidate they back.
With Clinton's resurgence last week -- thanks to wins in the Ohio and Texas primaries -- the fight for every delegate has become intense, making Wyoming a player for the first time in years.
The fight now moves to Mississippi, which holds its primary Tuesday, and delegate-rich Pennsylvania, which holds its primary April 22. Given the heightened acrimony between the two campaigns, that seems like a lifetime away.
Obama, with 1,578 delegates, is roughly 100 ahead of Clinton, according to the Associated Press tally. To become the party's nominee, a candidate needs 2,025 delegates.
Obama campaign strategist David Plouffe described Wyoming as "a big win for us" in a conference call with reporters Saturday afternoon.
The Obama campaign took repeated knocks last week from the Clinton campaign and in the losses to her in the Ohio and Texas primaries. And it shot itself in the foot when Harvard historian Samantha Power, one of the campaign's foreign policy advisors, told a Scottish reporter that Clinton was "a monster." Power quickly resigned.
Plouffe accused the Clinton camp of running a "scorched-earth campaign" and vowed that "we are going to campaign as hard as we can" in the coming contests.
Both candidates barnstormed in Wyoming last week, as did former President Clinton and the Clintons' daughter, Chelsea. "War for Wyoming," screamed a banner headline on Saturday's front page of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The visits put an unaccustomed spotlight on the state's Democrats, who constitute little more than a quarter of registered voters and feel a little lonely at times.
Clinton's campaign manager, Maggie Williams, downplayed the Wyoming loss. "We are thrilled with this near split in delegates and are grateful to the people of Wyoming for their support," she said in a statement Saturday. "Although the Obama campaign predicted victory in Wyoming weeks ago, we worked hard to present Sen. Clinton's vision to the caucusgoers and we thank them for turning out today."
