Who had a Better night Obama or Clinton?

[CultureKing]

Basically who do you think did better than was thought of them.


While I concede that while California and Massachusetts didn't go as well as they should have I also have to say that Obama outperformed Hillary in basically all of the other states on Feb. 5th.
Personally I am going to go with Obama.

[Eraserhead]

The media has clearly decided to spin it as a draw and it looks they are going to end up with about the same amount of delegates. So I'll go along with that theory.

[Gabu]

There was good and bad for both sides, really.

Clinton won California, and it looks to be a pretty convincing win at that.  No amount of spin can play down the significance of that.

But Obama won a fair number of states like Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado that make his candidacy still credible.

I'm going to give the edge to Clinton purely due to California, though.

[Lief 🗽]

Obama needed a draw, and he got it.

[Ebowed]

KKKlinton.  The media will be doing her hatchet job on the results soon enough.

("Massive victory in California, Massachusetts, even after the endorsements of John Kerry and John Kennedy!  This was truly a blow-out, Jim, another demonstration of the abilities of our own 'comeback kid'...")

[Alcon]

Clinton, basically.

More specifically:  I'll tell you after I read the wires tomorrow morning.

Working against Obama: counties may go to sleep, not resume counting until after newspaper press tomorrow.  Which is unfair, but c'est politics.

[Lief 🗽]

Washington Post's headline will read that the Democratic race is a tie, McCain assumes mantle of frontrunner.

[SomeLawStudent]

There was good and bad for both sides, really.

Clinton won California, and it looks to be a pretty convincing win at that.  No amount of spin can play down the significance of that.

But Obama won a fair number of states like Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado that make his candidacy still credible.

I'm going to give the edge to Clinton purely due to California, though.

I don't think she will end up winning convincingly.  It seems that most of the early returns were just from absentee ballots and not reflective of overall numbers in certain areas.  This is demonstrated by the fact that Edwards is currently getting 10% of the vote even though he dropped out a week ago.

He will probably get over 40% of the vote, possibly 45%.

[Beet]

Clinton, if only because there was an incipient expectation that her campaign was supposed to be blown out of the water today and it withstood the tidal wave- arguably on Obama's unexpected weaknesses as much as Hillary strengths. Obama underperformed in primary states given his superior endorsements, money, organization, momentum, and media coverage, while doing well in caucus states.

[Gabu]

Clinton, if only because there was an incipient expectation that her campaign was supposed to be blown out of the water today

I don't recall any media guys saying anything of the sort.

[Beet]

Clinton, if only because there was an incipient expectation that her campaign was supposed to be blown out of the water today

I don't recall any media guys saying anything of the sort.

The media said Obama could win Massachusetts and New Jersey and California. In fact Obama peaked at just the right time- election day was the day was about when the shift happened from 'Obama catching up' to 'Obama caught up'.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Obama. It's basically being written off as a draw now (which it is too if you take delegates into account), but Hillary was counting on it to finish off Obama. New York and California were supposed to be the coup de grace to his campaign. She got her wins but they weren't enough.

[Eraserhead]

The calendar for the rest of the month doesn't favor Hillary. I think she has a problem.

[Verily]

Obama needed a draw, and he got it.

I agree. In terms of what today does, it doesn't change anything about the national dynamics. But it gives Obama an opening to sweep a series of primaries and caucuses and leave Clinton sidelined.

Obama didn't need to finish off Clinton today, just do well enough to be able to stay in for the other February primaries. But Clinton might have needed to finish off Obama.

[cp]

http://www.slate.com/id/2183819

Here John Dickerson makes a convincing case for both sides.

Ultimately last night was a tie, but it was also a bizzaro-world kind of tie. The victories for each camp seem to contradict the narrative of their respective campaigns.

Clinton won the big states, the momentum states. California, New York, etc. She won more votes than Obama, most of them from the coasts were the 'elites' live.

But Obama won more states. He won in the heartland among the salt-of-the-earth types on whom Clinton had theoretically built her campaign. He won more delegates but Clinton's still in the lead because of Superdelegates.

It's a topsy-turvy kind of tie. Whether tonight benefits one candidate over the other is irrelevant. The race goes to individual states (or groups of just a few) which makes it more like Iowa and New Hampshire again: unpredictable, captive to local issues.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Clinton, but not overwhelmingly.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

It's a draw. The next states favor Obama a bit, but that just about cancels out Clinton's un-democratic superdelegate advantage.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Clinton, but not overwhelmingly.

That's about right.  She won the "big" states and the primary states, plus she still has the delegate lead.

Obama won a lot of the smaller states and the caucus states.  I see both of those facts as asterisks.  He did win a competitive Connecticut and Missouri, but lost Massachusetts and California.

[Iosif is a COTHO]

Clinton dodged a bullet, so her camp will be more relieved.

However, Obama won all his favorable states, Clinton lost two of hers.

And Obama can feel more confident about where he is for the rest of the month.

So 2/3 says Obama won.

[Adlai Stevenson]

Clinton, but not overwhelmingly.

[John Dibble]

If the primaries were a war, then this battle would be a draw. However, a draw probably benefits Obama more as it will give him time to pick up more momentum, which seems to be his strong point.

[Thomas Jackson]

.......

[Gustaf]

The media has clearly decided to spin it as a draw and it looks they are going to end up with about the same amount of delegates. So I'll go along with that theory.

Agreed. Some things stand out as good for Clinton, some stand out as good for Obama. Overall, I'd call it a draw. Though if Clinton wins really big in Cali that may hurt Obama a little extra.

[WalterMitty]

it takes a lot of spinning for you guys to convince yourself that obama had a better night.

all i heard all week was how the kennedys were going to win california and mass for obama.

neither were even close.

[Inmate Trump]

Everyone said whoever won California would be the winner.  Clinton won it, hands down.