Dallas voters could decide Democratic presidential nominee

Tatiana

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Mon Feb-18-08 05:51 PM
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Dallas voters could decide Democratic presidential nominee

Edited on Mon Feb-18-08 06:05 PM by Tatiana

Dallas voters could decide Democratic presidential nominee
Delegate-rich region attracting candidates' attention
12:21 PM CST on Monday, February 18, 2008
By GROMER JEFFERS JR. / The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas area and its bounty of delegates could dictate the outcome of what's shaping into a tactical brawl between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama in the Texas presidential primary. And the Democratic contenders have responded by opening offices, holding volunteer rallies and using surrogates to take their message to North Texas voters.

Mr. Obama has identified the state's urban centers as his Texas base and must perform well here to stay ahead of Mrs. Clinton in the delegate race.

Mrs. Clinton, relying heavily on the Hispanic vote to win the state and blunt Mr. Obama's momentum, must make further inroads in Dallas or risk having her advantage in other parts of the state nullified.

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"The Dallas area is phenomenally important, as is Travis and Harris County," said Dallas lawyer Ken Molberg, the longest-serving member of the State Democratic Executive Committee.

On March 4, Texas will hold not only its primaries, but also numerous precinct conventions that will send about 67 of the 228 Texas delegates to the Democratic convention in Denver.

The precinct conventions occur shortly after the polls close and are similar to the caucuses held in other states.

Dallas is expected to play a major role in the caucus process as well, because the seasoned politicos in the urban areas often know how to manipulate the system.

In 1988, County Commissioner John Wiley Price, who supported Jesse Jackson for president, and Mr. Molberg, who backed Al Gore, denied Michael Dukakis an outright Texas victory by winning delegates through the precinct convention process.

Because Mr. Dukakis went on to win the nomination, such maneuvers didn't matter.

But the closeness of this year's contest means every delegate counts.

Mr. Molberg has given both campaigns primers on the delegate selection process.

"The players in the urban districts know how the caucus process works," Mr. Molberg said.

The fight for Dallas-area delegates seems to favor Mr. Obama, who has strong support among black voters who serve as the base of the local Democratic party.

The Clinton campaign held two training sessions in Dallas to teach volunteers about the Texas delegate process.

"A lot of it we didn't know about or had forgotten," said Doug Haloftis, a Clinton volunteer. "The purpose of the meetings was educational. We have to stress our grass-roots organization."

At weekend rallies, Obama supporters were also urged to participate in the precinct conventions and given crash courses in the delegate selection process.

Mr. Obama has created one of the most effective grass-roots organizations in the history of presidential campaigns, and he is training precinct captains in anticipation of a fierce ground war for voters.

"I don't know how hard it's going to be. I've never done this before," said 51-year-old social worker Joanne Spears. "I'm going to be walking blocks and making contact with voters. Can you believe it? Texas really matters. We didn't know about this canvass stuff until last week."

Ms. Spears was at a Sunday Obama rally in Fair Park, the fourth major event the campaign held in the Dallas area in less than a week.

Amid the many Obama placards, a few signs read: "Texas Counts." :rofl:

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http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/topstories/stories/021808dnpogdallas.2d36a7b.html