Wisconsin Democratic primary, 2008

The 2008 Wisconsin Democratic primary took place on February 19, 2008. 74 pledged delegates were at stake. The Hawaii Democratic caucuses, 2008 took place the same day.

The Wisconsin primary comes after Senator Barack Obama won the majority of delegates and votes in 8 straight primaries and caucuses. In the days leading up to the primary the Hillary Clinton campaign ran television ads criticizing Obama on healthcare and for not agreeing to more candidate debates. [cite news |first=Tom |last=Baldwin |title=Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton trade blows as Wisonsin decides |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3399717.ece |publisher=Times |date=2008-02-20 |accessdate=2008-02-20] This caused the Obama campaign to launch a response ad that mentioned the 18 debates already held and 2 more scheduled. [cite news |title=Democrats Vote In Wisconsin And Hawaii |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/19/ap/national/main3843888.shtml |publisher=CBS News |date=2008-02-19 |accessdate=2008-01-19 |work=AP] The Clinton campaign also charged Obama using lines in a speech similar to words spoken by Massachusetts Governor and Obama friend Deval Patrick; Patrick responded by saying he and Obama often swap ideas, and that he had willingly shared lines without asking for credit to be given. [cite news |title=Clinton Fingerprints on Plagiarism Flap |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jyrMRzzhtkEXXcGY9cNmKYSRpVigD8UTNA980 |publisher=Associated Press |date=2008-02-19 |accessdate=2008-02-19] Barack Obama is the projected winner.cite web |title=RESULTS: Wisconsin |url=http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#WI |publisher=CNN |date=2008-02-19 |accessdate=2008-02-19] cite web |title=Obama wins Wisconsin primary poll |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7252205.stm |publisher=BBC |date=2008-02-19 |accessdate=2008-02-19]

Results

{| border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; font-size: 95%; text-align:right;"
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align="center"! colspan="4" | Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary, 2008 [ [http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=13368&locid=47 Wisconsin State Elections Board] ]
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align="center"! style="width: 17em" | Candidate! style="width: 5em" | Votes! style="width: 7em" | Percentage! style="width: 5em" | National delegates [ [http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/WI-D.html The Green Papers] ]
-
align="left" | Barack Obama
646,851
58.08%
42
-
align="left"| Hillary Clinton
453,954
40.76%
32
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8
align="left" | "John Edwards"
"6,693"
"0.60%"
"0"
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8
align="left" | "Dennis Kucinich"
"2,625"
"0.24%"
"0"
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8
align="left" | "Joe Biden"
"755"
"0.07%"
"0"
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8
align="left" | "Bill Richardson"
"528"
"0.05%"
"0"
-
align="left" | Mike Gravel
517
0.05%
0
-bgcolor=#FFE8E8
align="left" | "Christopher Dodd"
"501"
"0.04%"
"0"
-
align="left" | Uninstructed
861
0.08%
0
-bgcolor="#EEEEEE" style="margin-right:0.5em"
Totals
1,113,285
100%
74

Analysis

In the weeks and days leading up to the Wisconsin Democratic Primary, most pundits agreed that it was Hillary Clinton's chance to halt Obama's momentum after winning contest Washington, Louisiana, Nebraska, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. following Super Tuesday.

Hillary Clinton enjoyed healthy leads among white voters in previous states and hoped that winning Wisconsin or at least the white vote would allow for a victory of sorts. However, CNN Exit Polls showed that Obama won the white vote (which comprised 87% of the electorate on primary day) 54%-45%. Also, other key Clinton constituencies showed Obama making significant strides such as the female vote which split 50%-50%, the 54-65 Age Group which voted for Obama 54%-45%. [ cite web| url = http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#WIDEM| title = CNN EXIT POLLS ]

After the victory in Wisconsin as well as Caucuses in Washington and a primary in Hawaii held on the same day gave Obama the momentum of winning 9 straight contests. The Pledged delegate standing after the Wisconsin Primary was Obama leading 1154-1011.

Polls

Polls taken throughout 2007 consistently put Hillary Clinton in the lead, but during February 2008 most polls showed Barack Obama with the advantage. [cite web |title=2008 Wisconsin Democratic Presidential Primary |url=http://www.pollster.com/08-WI-Dem-Pres-Primary.php |publisher=Pollster |accessdate=2008-02-19] A Rasmussen poll taken February 13 reported that almost one-fourth of those polled said there was a good chance they might change their mind. It also found that while Clinton was doing well among women, with a 10 point advantage over Obama, Obama was polling 23 points higher than her among men. [cite web |url=http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/wisconsin/wisconsin_democratic_presidential_primary |title=Wisconsin Democratic Presidential Primary |publisher=Rasmussen Reports |date=2008-02-13 |accessdate=2008-02-19]

See also

* Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
* Wisconsin Republican primary, 2008

References