Team Obama Prepares for Stalemate

Leaked memo forecasts dead heat with Clinton for nom
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 7, 2008 10:54 AM CST
Team Obama Prepares for Stalemate
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., watches a campaign rally video on a journalist laptop while other members of the media look on during his flight from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)   (Associated Press)

Barack Obama's campaign is preparing for a deadlocked contest with Hillary Clinton and forecasting a virtual tie in the race for Democratic delegates, according to an internal memo. Bloomberg reports Obama's advisers envision him winning 19 of 27 remaining primaries but giving Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to Clinton. That scenario would give Obama a lead in delegates but not an outright majority.

The battle would then hinge upon two factors: first, Clinton's attempt to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan, whom the Democratic National Committee has disqualified but who are pledged to her; and second, the allegiances of 796 superdelegates, roughly half of whom are unaffiliated. An Obama spokesman insisted the inadvertently leaked memo was "only one of an infinite number of scenarios." (More Barack Obama stories.)

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