Obama: Races won't alter delegate lead
Posted: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 4:15 PM by Mark Murray
From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
IN THE AIR BETWEEN HOUSTON AND SAN ANTONIO -- No matter what happens during tonight's primary, Obama says he's confident that he will have the lead in pledged delegates heading into August's Democratic convention in Denver.
Coming to the back of the plane with his wife Michelle by his side, Obama joked that reporters had said he didn't take enough questions yesterday so here was their chance.
On what tonight's outcome might mean for his candidacy and for Clinton's, Obama reminded the group that he "started 20 points behind in Texas and Ohio."
"We closed the gap, but you know whether it's going to be enough to actually win is going to depend on turnout," Obama said of today's contests. "We know there's not going to be a huge shift in delegates one way or another -- just given the math. Which means that either way we will go to Mississippi or Wyoming next week."
But he said that no matter what the outcome, it would be difficult for Clinton, who currently trails him by more than one hundred pledged delegates, to make up his lead.
"You know what my head tells me is that we've got a very sizeable delegate lead that is going to be hard to overcome," he said. "I am, you know, confident that we can maintain a pledged delegate lead going into the convention."
Obama, however, was quick to point out that he was not underestimating Clinton, calling her a "tough opponent" and "tenacious campaigner," adding that his campaign didn't want to "jump the gun."
But he also referred to Bill Richardson's remarks this past Sunday on "Face the Nation" that today's primaries were "D-Day for the Democrats," implying that party elders were watching and also wanted to quickly decide on a nominee.
"I think right now, many of them are watching to see what the voters will decide. You heard Bill Richardson talk about on Sunday for him and others that to bring this to a close is important," he said.
He also claimed that the tone of his campaign would not change, despite increased attacks from Clinton.
Michelle Obama, who stood by her husband for most of the press conference, said that they would be unrattled by negative attacks and said that Obama has been "pretty tough all year."
"You know this is a tough game, you know this is how it goes. This hasn't been anything under than what we expected. You know you gotta be ready for tough questions and he's handled himself well," she said. "You gotta admit he's been pretty cool calm and collected through this whole year, most of which he's been down in the polls. He wasn't supposed to be here," she said.
Unlike yesterday's contentious press conference, today's ended on a light note, with Obama saying that he had missed the caricature of the Democratic race on Saturday Night Live this past Saturday night.
But he had a message for Tina Fey, whose skit poking fun at the media's fawning over Obama received wide press coverage.
"Clearly Tina Fey and I are gonna have to have a conversation. Ya know, I think she hasn't met me," he said.
Obama will do satellite interview for the rest of the day until this evening, when he will hold a rally in downtown San Antonio as the election results come in.
