Texas, Ohio primaries today

By Mary Daly

Published March 4, 2008

As the next round of primaries arrive today, the presidential candidates have stepped up their campaigns and attacks upon each other.

Today Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont will all hold their Republican and Democratic primaries.

The outcome of the primaries could lock in the status of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as his party’s nominee. It could also obliterate the hopes of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., to overtake Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

“America will be watching Texas and Ohio’s primaries because they may very well decide the outcome of the Democratic nomination,” said Trevor Turner, Disability Caucus chairman of the College Democrats of America.

Obama leads Clinton in total delegates going into the March 4 primaries, according to cnn.com.

Both candidates are still far from picking up the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination.

MU communications professor William Benoit said a race this close between the Democrats has the potential to go all the way to the Democratic National Convention in August.

“Unless someone — Sen. Clinton given Sen. Obama’s current lead — drops out, we may see the first contested convention since the 1976 Republican convention,” Benoit said. “In other words, it might be the end of August before we know who will be the Democratic nominee.”

Benoit said the close race is causing the candidates to launch many attacks on one another.

In a recent television advertisement, Clinton advocated the fact that someone with experience should be leading this country. She asked viewers who they’d want to answer the White House phone at 3 a.m., a person who already has a background in Washington, D.C., or one who does not.

Obama responded to the ad by calling it “fear-mongering.” He said the question is what kind of judgment the president exercises when the phone rings.

Obama further said Clinton and McCain both exercised incorrect judgment when they voted to invade Iraq.

According to Benoit, these sorts of attacks could harm both the target and the attacker.

“Attacks on Obama could damage Obama, but there could be a boomerang effect as well,” Benoit said. “Depending on what the attack is and how it is made, these attacks could damage Obama but they could also hurt the attacker.”

College Democrats of Missouri president Nate Kennedy said the attacks on Obama’s inexperience aren’t hurting the candidate so far.

“From what I’ve seen Barack has some momentum in Ohio and Texas,” Kennedy said. “If he can essentially tie in Ohio and Texas, I think he’ll be able to maintain his lead heading toward convention.”

On the GOP side, McCain is just 144 delegates away from clinching the Republican nomination, but former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is doing the math a little differently.

“Let me give you a little ‘Huckamath’ here today,” Huckabee said in a speech in Ohio. “If nobody gets 1,191 pledged, confirmed delegates, then that means this goes to the convention. And if it goes to the convention, then I believe the most conservative candidate left on its feet will be the nominee.”

Huckabee touts himself as being more conservative than McCain and has won much of the conservative vote in previous primaries.

Benoit said McCain’s weakness in garnering the conservative vote would not be a hindrance to him in the general election if he’s the nominee.

“I think any Republicans who do not like him will probably hold their noses and vote for him,” Benoit said. “The task now facing McCain is to attract the independent and moderate vote and any Democratic potential swing voters.”