Georgia? Bush beat Kerry by 548,000 votes (or 58% to 41%) while McCain bested Obama by only 211,000 votes (52% to 47%). Very respectable progress.
Missouri? An Obama loss, but definitely in play. McCain won by only 5,858 votes compared to Bush’s 196,542. Obama shrunk the GOP advantage by 3200%; and 5,858 votes is about as close as you can come to flipping a red state bulwark and not win.
And Obama won Iowa and Virgina, exceeding Bush’s 2004 vote tallies in both states.
What does contextualizing my February post with November 4th’s results tell us? A.) the tough primary forced early and solid Dem GOTV and registration efforts B.) Obama and the Democrats organized and ran a superlative campaign and C.) Blind squirrels like me occasionally find acorns.
The lesson learned here is that it is never too early to generate enthusiasm and register new voters for a November election. Additionally, Obama showed some political Judo in the fact he was able to harness the energy directed in attack at him from the Hillary machine and redirect it outward to his advantage as a unified Democratic force for November victory.
Although some precincts still have yet to report, early returns indicate that Senator Clinton’s aggressive and persistent campaign not only sharpened Candidate Obama, but it was critical in creating the infrastructure, enthusiasm, and new voter base that flipped 9 (almost 10) red states and closed the voting gap in others. Evidence now suggests that the fears of a protracted Clinton Campaign were overstated.
