Spun out

When we won Iowa, the Clinton campaign said it's not the number of states you win, it's "a contest for delegates."
When we won a significant lead in delegates, they said it's really about which states you win.
When we won South Carolina, they discounted the votes of African-Americans.
When we won predominantly white, rural states like Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska, they said those didn't count because they won't be competitive in the general election.
When we won in Washington State, Wisconsin, and Missouri -- general election battlegrounds where polls show Barack is a stronger candidate against John McCain -- the Clinton campaign attacked those voters as "latte-sipping" elitists.
And now that we've won more than twice as many states, the Clinton spin is that only certain states really count.
But the facts are clear.
For all their attempts to discount, distract, and distort, we have won more delegates, more states, and more votes.
Meanwhile, more than half of the votes that Senator Clinton has won so far have come from just five states. And in four of these five states, polls show that Barack would be a stronger general election candidate against McCain than Clinton.
We're ready to take on John McCain. But we also need to build operations in places like Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, and Oregon that will hold their primaries in April and May.
Barack Obama needs your support to fight this two-front battle. Please make a donation of $25 right now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

With our overwhelming victory in the Mississippi primary yesterday, our lead in earned delegates is now wider than it was on March 3rd, before the contests in Ohio and Texas.
And thanks to your help, we have dramatically increased our support among so-called "superdelegates" -- Governors, Members of Congress, and party officials who have a vote at the Democratic National Convention in August.
As the number of remaining delegates dwindles, Hillary Clinton's path to the nomination seems less and less plausible.
Now that Mississippi is behind us, we move on to the next ten contests. The Clinton campaign would like to focus your attention only on Pennsylvania -- a state in which they have already declared that they are "unbeatable."
But Pennsylvania is only one of those 10 remaining contests, each important in terms of allocating delegates and ultimately deciding who our nominee will be.
We have activated our volunteer networks in each of these upcoming battlegrounds. We're putting staff on the ground and building our organization everywhere.
The key to victory is not who wins the states that the Clinton campaign thinks are important. The key to victory is realizing that every vote and every voter matters.
Throughout this entire process, the Clinton campaign has cherry-picked states, diminished caucuses, and moved the goal posts to create a shifting, twisted rationale for why they should win the nomination despite winning fewer primaries, fewer states, fewer delegates, and fewer votes.
We must stand up to the same-old Washington politics. Barack has won twice as many states, large and small, in every region of the country -- many by landslide margins. And this movement is expanding the base of the Democratic Party by attracting new voters in record numbers and bringing those who had lost hope back into the political process.
Push back against the spin and help build the operation to win more delegates in these upcoming contests:

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

Thank you for your support and for everything you've done to build a movement that is engaging voters and winning contests in every part of this country.

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Vittorie e attacchi

It's tough to think of two states more different than Wyoming and Mississippi.
But we won Wyoming on Saturday, and we just learned that we won Mississippi by a large margin tonight.
Between those two states, we picked up enough delegates to erase the gains by Senator Clinton last Tuesday and add to our substantial lead in earned delegates. And in doing so we showed the strength and breadth of this movement.
But just turn on the news and you'll see that Senator Clinton continues to run an expensive, negative campaign against us. Each day her campaign launches a new set of desperate attacks.
They're not just attacking me; they're attacking you.
Over the weekend, an aide to Senator Clinton attempted to diminish the overwhelming number of contests we've won by referring to places we've prevailed as "boutique" states and our supporters as the "latte-sipping crowd."
I'm not sure how those terms apply to Mississippi and Wyoming -- or Virginia, Iowa, Louisiana, or Idaho for that matter.
I know that our victories in all of these states demonstrate a rejection of this kind of petty, divisive campaigning.
But the fact remains that Senator Clinton's campaign will continue to attack us using the same old Washington playbook. And now that John McCain is the Republican nominee, we are forced to campaign on two fronts.
It's up to you to fight back. Please make a donation of $25 today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

Thank you,

Barack

Indiani e cow boys scelgono Obama

L'America è tornata a votare per le primarie. Dopo gli importanti Texas e Ohio è stato il piccolo Wyoming, un grande territorio dal peso elettoralmente insignificante o quasi ad andare ai seggi. Ha vinto Barack Obama, dato in testa dalle proiezioni CNN basate sul 91% dei voti per 58-41 su Hillary Clinton. Sono stati chiamati al voto 59 mila elettori per 12 delegati. Tutti democratici. I Repubblicani in Wyoming hanno già votato (il 5 gennaio scorso, vinse Mitt Romney davanti a Fred Thompson), il loro candidato ce l'hanno già (John McCain) e il voto odierno non li riguarda. Riguarda invece i democratici. Molto. L'appuntamento del Wyoming, che in tempi normali sarebbe risultato del tutto secondario, in questa fase delle presidenziali 2008 secondario non è perché in casa democratica quelli che si stanno vivendo non sono affatto tempi normali. Troppa tensione. Per questo il partito spera che il Wyoming abbia un effetto calmante sulle polemiche interne. La corsa alla nomination vede sempre più contrapposti i due candidati. La campagna di Obama accusa Hillary di giocare sporco, la campagna di Hillary accusa Obama di "doppio linguaggio" e di inesperienza, una consigliera di Obama ha dato a Hillary del "mostro", una consigliera di Hillary a suo tempo aveva dato a Obama del "drogato". Entrambi dimessi. "Troppe parole, troppi nervi scoperti, così non va bene" dice il partito, che spera in un effetto Wyoming capace di raffreddare gli animi. Tanto più che i delegati in palio sono solo 12. Ma è bene che la coppia Hillary-Obama si renda conto di questo dato: mentre l'America Repubblicana si gode con calma la sua nomination di John McCain, e pianifica i mesi da qui al 4 novembre, l'America Democratica assiste a una lotta sempre più fratricida che rischia di indebolirla al punto da mettere a rischio la conquista della Casa Bianca. Per questo il Partito Democratico spera che il piccolo Wyoming abbia se non altro l'effetto di rasserenare i toni. Barack Obama ha vinto (58 a 41). Era previsto. Secondo la CNN dei 12 delegati, 7 andranno a lui, 4 a Hillary, 1 è da assegnare. Il voto in Wyoming non è stato tanto l'occasione per definire la nomination, quanto per riflettere circa l'opportunità di far rientrare nel gioco del voto democratico Stati importanti come Florida e Michigan a suo tempo esclusi per 'indisciplina'. Nonostante le indicazioni ricevute, sia Florida sia Michigan avevano infatti voluto anticipare il loro voto a gennaio. Il presidente del comitato direttivo del Democratic Party, Howard Dean, li aveva puniti: nessuno dei vostri delegati avrà posto alla convention di Denver. I risultati di Texas e Ohio hanno però portato molti esponenti del partito a chiedere di rivedere la decisione. "E' paradossale che uno Stato come la Florida non partecipi alla nomination" hanno dichiaro alcuni superdelegati. E il partito si è ulteriormente spaccato. Hillary (secondo calcoli CNN) può contare ora su 1.428 delegati, Obama su 1.527. Non sono stati certo i 12 del Wyoming a decidere. Ma l'appuntamento è servito per fare il punto sul dibattito circa l'opportunità di riaprire a Florida e Michigan. Se nei due Stati si tornasse a votare per le primarie, i delegati in palio sarebbero 210 in Florida e 156 in Michigan. Senza contare che la battaglia campale - su questo nessuno ha dubbi - si giocherà il 22 aprile in Pennsylvania, terra di lavoratori e piccole imprese oggi alle prese con una crisi economica senza precedenti. Può il partito democratico affrontare un tema così delicato presentandosi diviso?

Luciano Clerico per ANSA

The math - di Barack Obama, in riferimento alla precedente comunicazione di David Plouffe

Want to add some more news to David's note about the state of the race.
As you know, we've won 27 of 41 contests and have maintained our commanding lead among pledged delegates.
But today I want to share another staggering number: supporters like you donated more than $55 million to this campaign in the month of February.
That's a humbling achievement, and I am very grateful for your support.
No campaign has ever raised this much in a single month in the history of presidential primaries. But more important than the total is how we did it -- more than 90% of donations were $100 or less, and more than 385,000 new donors in February pushed us past our goal of more than 1,000,000 people owning a piece of this campaign.
From the beginning, this campaign has always been funded by a movement of grassroots supporters giving whatever they can afford. And unlike Senator Clinton and Senator McCain, we have never taken money from lobbyists or PACs.
Senator Clinton has decided to use her resources to wage a negative, throw-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink campaign. John McCain has clinched the Republican nomination and is attacking us daily. But I will continue to vigorously defend my record and make the case for change that will improve the lives of all Americans.
I need your help to continue this battle on two separate fronts. Now is the time to step up and own a piece of this campaign.
Please make a donation of $25 today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

Thank you for your support,

Barack

The math - di David Plouffe

Our projections show the most likely outcome of yesterday's elections will be that Hillary Clinton gained 187 delegates, and we gained 183.
That's a net gain of 4 delegates out of more than 370 delegates available from all the states that voted.
For comparison, that's less than half our net gain of 9 delegates from the District of Columbia alone. It's also less than our net gain of 8 from Nebraska, or 12 from Washington State. And it's considerably less than our net gain of 33 delegates from Georgia.
The task for the Clinton campaign yesterday was clear. In order to have a plausible path to the nomination, they needed to score huge delegate victories and cut into our lead.
They failed.
It's clear, though, that Senator Clinton wants to continue an increasingly desperate, increasingly negative -- and increasingly expensive -- campaign to tear us down.
That's her decision. But it's not stopping John McCain, who clinched the Republican nomination last night, from going on the offensive. He's already made news attacking Barack, and that will only become more frequent in the coming days.
Right now, it's essential for every single supporter of Barack Obama to step up and help fight this two-front battle. In the face of attacks from Hillary Clinton and John McCain, we need to be ready to take them on.
Will you make an online donation of $25 right now?

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

The chatter among pundits may have gotten better for the Clinton campaign after last night, but by failing to cut into our lead, the math -- and their chances of winning -- got considerably worse.
Today, we still have a lead of more than 150 delegates, and there are only 611 pledged delegates left to win in the upcoming contests.
By a week from today, we will have competed in Wyoming and Mississippi. Two more states and 45 more delegates will be off the table.
But if Senator Clinton wants to continue this, let's show that we're ready.
Make an online donation of $25 now to show you're willing to fight for this:

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

This nomination process is an opportunity to decide what our party needs to stand for in this election.
We can either take on John McCain with a candidate who's already united Republicans and Independents against us, or we can do it with a campaign that's united Americans from all parties around a common purpose.
We can debate John McCain about who can clean up Washington by nominating a candidate who's taken more money from lobbyists than he has, or we can do it with a campaign that hasn't taken a dime of their money because we've been funded by you.
We can present the American people with a candidate who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with McCain on the worst foreign policy disaster of our generation, and agrees with him that George Bush deserves the benefit of the doubt on Iran, or we can nominate someone who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning and will not support a march to war with Iran.
John McCain may have a long history of straight talk and independent thinking, but he has made the decision in this campaign to offer four more years of the very same policies that have failed us for the last eight.
We need a Democratic candidate who will present the starkest contrast to those failed policies of the past.
And that candidate is Barack Obama.
Please make a donation of $25 now:

https://donate.barackobama.com/math

Thank you,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Cos'è successo oggi

Pubblichiamo l'e-mail di Barack Obama pervenutaci questa mattina, a conclusione delle "ostilità" elettorali di questa notte.

We may not know the final outcome of today's voting until morning, but the results so far make one thing clear.
When the dust settles from today's contests, we will maintain our substantial lead in delegates. And thanks to millions of people standing for change, we will keep adding delegates and capture the Democratic nomination.
We knew from the day we began this journey that the road would be long. And we knew what we were up against.
We knew that the closer we got to the change we seek, the more we'd see of the politics we're trying to end -- the attacks and distortions that try to distract us from the issues that matter to people's lives, the stunts and the tactics that ask us to fear instead of hope.
But this time -- this year -- it will not work. The challenges are too great. The stakes are too high.
Americans need real change.
In the coming weeks, we will begin a great debate about the future of this country with a man who has served it bravely and loves it dearly. And we will offer two very different visions of the America we see in the twenty-first century.
John McCain has already dismissed our call for change as eloquent but empty.
But he should know that it's a call that did not begin with my words. It's the resounding call from every corner of this country, from first-time voters and lifelong cynics, from Democrats and Republicans alike.
And together you and I are going to grow this movement to deliver that change in November.
Thank you,

Barack

Il giorno dell'O.K. Corral

Come accadde a Tombstone il 26 ottobre 1881, dove si svolse l'epico scontro tra lo sceriffo Wyatt Earp che, insieme ai suoi fratelli Morgan Earp e Virgil Earp e l'amico Doc Holliday, duellarono contro Billy Claiborne, Frank McLaury, Tom McLaury, Billy Clanton ed Ike Clanton e dove ebbero la peggio i due McLaury e Billy Clanton che vennero uccisi, così oggi un'altro epico scontro del west americano sta per avverarsi.

Ma questa volta i rivali non si confronteranno con le pallottole, ma con le armi più potenti di questa epoca: i voti degli elettori.

Obama come Wyatt, si sta incamminando verso l'OK Corral, dove l'attende la Clinton che non ha per nulla voglia di arrendersi.

Oggi si fa la storia del "new west", dell'America e del mondo intero!