legacy.”
In addition, her uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the party’s most senior lawmaker, will also endorse Obama this morning at a rally at American University. “That’s a big catch. When he endorsed Kerry, it gave a real boost to his campaign,” says David A. Bositis, a senior research associate at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.
Organization will be key to Super Tuesday success. Fauntroy says, “It’s going to be very different from South Carolina and every other state. The candidates are going to have to use the kind of language that will resonate with voters in a way that’s different from what we’ve seen so far, where much of the attention has been focused on issues of particular importance to a given state. But because on Super Tuesday all of those states are up for grab, it will be difficult to do that. It becomes more of a national primary, whereby national issues rise to the forefront.”
Fundraising will also become a critical issue, adds Fauntroy. The Super Tuesday states include some of the most expensive media markets in the country, such as New York and California. Obama may have an advantage there, as well, since many of Clinton’s donors have given the maximum, while he’s raised a lot of smaller donations from people who are eligible to give again.
The Edwards campaign continues to struggle, with zero primary wins compared to two each by his competitors, but has vowed to keep up the fight. “I think he’s good for Obama in some states, especially the southern ones. He’ll continue to get a good chunk of the white vote, but I think he’ll be taking those votes away from Clinton more than Obama, and if it hurts Clinton, it helps Obama,” says Bositis. And because it’s a numbers game, he adds, if in the end neither Clinton nor Obama have won enough delegates, “it could become a situation of who knows what could happen. Edwards could become a king maker.”