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[Milwaukiedave]

CHEYENNE, Wyoming (CNN) -- Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has won the Wyoming Democratic caucus, CNN projected Saturday.

Sen. Barack Obama poses with University of Wyoming mascot Pistol Pete in Laramie on Friday.

Obama led rival Sen. Hillary Clinton at 59 percent to 40 percent, with 96 percent of precincts reporting.

The caucus thrust the state, which has only 12 delegates, into the spotlight because the close race between Obama and Clinton means that every delegate counts.

Although Wyoming typically is not a stop for Democrats looking for delegates to clinch the party's presidential nomination, its numbers could make a difference this year because of the delegate deadlock.

With slightly more than 600 delegates left at stake, every remaining contest is crucial to both candidates. The two are separated by fewer than 100 delegates, CNN estimates, with Obama leading Clinton 1,527 to 1,428. See where the Democratic race stands �

CNN estimates that Obama will win at least seven delegates and Clinton will win at least four, with one delegate still outstanding. Five of Wyoming's 12 delegates will be allocated at the state convention, which will be held Memorial Day in Jackson, but the allocation will be based on caucus results.

"We are thrilled with this near split in delegates and are grateful to the people of Wyoming for their support," Clinton's campaign manager, Maggie Williams, said in a statement.

"Although the Obama campaign predicted victory in Wyoming weeks ago, we worked hard to present Sen. Clinton's vision to the caucus-goers, and we thank them for turning out today."

On Friday, both senators were in Wyoming to lure last-minute votes. Clinton held town hall meetings in Cheyenne and Casper, and also dispatched former President Clinton to help drum up support.

Obama spoke at a town hall meeting in Casper, using the opportunity to criticize Clinton's 2002 vote on the war in Iraq.

"I will bring this war to an end in 2009, so don't be confused ... when Senator Clinton is not willing to acknowledge that she voted for war," he said. "I don't want to play politics on this issue, because she doesn't have standing to question my position on this issue."

The state's Democratic governor, Dave Freudenthal, said he has endorsed neither candidate because, in his view, they have mostly neglected "Western issues" like the environment, water and energy. However, he said he was lobbied hard by both campaigns in the weeks leading up to the caucus.

Former Gov. Mike Sullivan backed Clinton some time ago. State Democratic Party chief John Millin has endorsed Obama.

"Seriously, I never imagined when I took this job that we would see the day when the two front-runners for the Democratic presidential nomination would hold events in Wyoming on the eve of our county caucuses," state Democratic Party spokesman Bill Luckett wrote on the state party's Web site this week.

"I think there's a reasonable chance we'll get our 15 minutes in the national spotlight when the deal goes down on Saturday."

[enns]

A 7-5 split, CNN projects.
Clinton announces it as a virtual tie, while Obama claims a "big victory".
Let the spin continue...

[cbclark4]

Obama 61%
Hilary 38%

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23523885

[Milwaukiedave]

[Kuros]

[cbclark4]

How is that not a big win 61% of the vote for Obama?

Maybe not a big contest in that it is Wyoming?

[Milwaukiedave]

Play it down all you want, but here is another news story:

Obama scores decisive win in Wyoming

By: Carrie Budoff Brown
Mar 8, 2008 07:58 PM EST

Obama's decisive win in Wyoming allows him to move beyond his disappointing showings in Texas and Ohio.

CHICAGO � Barack Obama overwhelmed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wyoming Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday, scoring a decisive win that allows him to move beyond his disappointing primary election showings earlier in the week in Texas and Ohio.

The victory was expected and welcomed for the Illinois senator after one of his toughest weeks on the campaign trail. He has faced second-guessing from some supporters about his losses in several big states and his appetite for striking back at Clinton without endangering his image as a new-era politician.

He plans to ride Saturday�s double-digit win into Mississippi on Monday, one day before its primary, which he is also expected to take.

�This is a big win for us,� Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters in a conference call Saturday night. �You saw very furious campaigning by the Clinton campaign. They had more campaign activity than we did heading into Wyoming. They mounted a very aggressive effort on the ground. This is a very important win for us.�

Clinton campaign manager Maggie Williams said the New York senator beat expectations, picking up five delegates to Obama's seven.

�Although the Obama campaign predicted victory in Wyoming weeks ago,� Williams said in a statement, �we worked hard to present Senator Clinton�s vision to the caucus-goers, and we thank them for turning out today.�

As Obama heads to Pennsylvania with its April 22 primary, even a two-state winning streak � in Wyoming and Mississippi � may not eliminate one of the key questions likely to hang over his candidacy for the next six weeks: Can he take large, traditionally Democratic states?

Obama, who was home in Chicago with no public events Saturday, has rejected viewing the campaign through the prism of large states versus small states, saying his strategy of racking up wins in Republican states helps expand the universe of battlegrounds where the Democrats can compete in the fall.

Plouffe said Saturday�s win out West offered �evidence that Senator Obama is going to be able to put more states in play because of his strength with independent voters.�

�Even in states where we would not win the states with electoral votes,� Plouffe said, �we are going to provide a better climate for down-ballot candidates.�

And as he often does, Plouffe told reporters that, in the end, the race is about delegates.

Clinton netted six delegates in Tuesday's contests in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas, where Obama lost the primary but won the caucuses, Plouffe said.

But with just one state � Wyoming � Obama won back a third of those delegates, netting two in Saturday�s caucuses, Plouffe said.

Obama has generally outperformed Clinton in caucus states, which reward organization. His campaign arrived in Wyoming earlier than Clinton�s and opened five offices across the state.

After Obama gained his pledged delegate lead in part by focusing on smaller, predominantly Republican states, Clinton has been less willing to cede areas to him.

So she made an effort in Wyoming, appearing Friday in Casper and Cheyenne, and placing five staff members on the ground. Former President Bill Clinton made three stops there Thursday.

�I think we can win,� Kathy Karpan, a former Democratic candidate for governor and leading Clinton supporter in Wyoming, told Politico last week. She cited �the connection that the Clintons have with people in our state,� a network of support built during their White House years when they vacationed at Jackson Hole.

�We are going to do very well with the rank and file,� Karpan said. �The question is, will those people who get captivated by e-mails� � Obama supporters � �be willing to sit through the call to order, the nominating and seconding speeches. It takes a little bit of patience and interest in the process to do this.�

With nearly all the results in Saturday night, Obama was leading Clinton by 19 percentage points.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/8917.html

The only thing left to do is deride it because it's a caucus state.

[Kuros]

[stillnotking]

[Kuros]

[Milwaukiedave]

Texas Delegates 92/92 with 9 outstanding delegates due to the Texas Caucus results not being finshed counting.

[stillnotking]

[Kuros]

[stillnotking]

Yep. I have to say Hillary's campaign recovered remarkably well, though, and shifted what could have been (and what I was expecting to be) an overwhelming Obama victory in the caucus to a relatively narrow one.