Obama wins in Wisconsin, cements frontrunner status

Barack Obama delivers a nearly 45-minute long victory speech heavy on the specifics in Houston, Tex. (Video provided by MSNBC.com)

By Mike Manzoni
Staff Writer

Retaining the momentum he garnered after a host of victories earlier this month, Barack Obama (D-Ill.) won the Wisconsin primary Feb. 19, making it his ninth consecutive win in a race that now has fellow Democratic contender Hillary Clinton pressured for big wins in the Ohio and Texas primaries to take place March 4.

Although Wisconsin's blue-collar and lower-income population would appear to have benefited Sen. Clinton, the junior Illinois senator took 58 percent of the vote to Sen. Clinton's 41 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting.

Hawai'i also held its caucuses Tuesday, but the results do not come in until after the caucuses close at 1:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. Also, Washington state held a primary that will award no delegates, but with 53 percent of precincts reporting, Obama held onto a 50 percent to 47 percent lead, with the Associated Press not declaring a winner.

"We can't just have speeches, we've got to have solutions," said Clinton, referring to Obama in her primary night speech from Youngstown, Ohio. "The best words in the world aren't enough unless you match them with action."

Clinton did not mention the results in Wisconsin in her speech. And she was pre-empted by all three cable-news channels (FOX, MSNBC and CNN) when Obama took the stage to declare victory in Houston, Tex.

"The problem that we face today in America today is not the lack of good ideas, it is that Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die," Obama said, after learning he had won the Wisconsin primary. He delivered an uncharacteristically long victory speech which lasted nearly 45 minutes, and it was heavy on policy specifics, including his views on education reform, health care and immigration.

"We're here because we still believe that change is possible," he said.

Washington awarded its delegates during caucuses held Feb. 9, which Obama won. The state legislature there decided to go ahead with what was being called a "beauty contest" even though the Democratic National Committee decided to allot their delegates after the caucuses. Nearly 500,000 voters had turned out with 53 percent of the precincts reporting.

Obama's ninth straight victory comes after New Mexico announced the winner of its caucus held on Super Tuesday. Clinton edged Obama out by 1,709 votes there, party officials announced last Thursday.

In the days before the two contests, the Clinton camp accused Obama of plagiarizing the words of Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and using them as his own in his stump speeches.

The Clinton camp said it "calls into question the premise of his candidacy."

But when asked about allegations of plagiarism by Clinton herself which had been raised in press reports about Obama, senior Clinton campaign advisor Howard Wolfson said she "is not running on the strength of her rhetoric" in a conference call with reporters.

Obama rejected the charges of plagiarism and said that he often borrows the words of the Massachusetts governor – a person he campaigned for in his successful 2006 gubernatorial bid, and who has publicly defended him in response to the attacks.

In Texas, Obama was charging ahead. "The change we seek is still months and miles away, and we need the good people of Texas to help us get there," he said.