With two days until the voting, Obama has been so successful at building the appearance of momentum that he has reversed the conventional wisdom: What was once considered fertile ground for Hillary Clinton is now assumed to be Obama country. A win in Texas could be Obama’s knockout blow – but a loss, amid such heightened expectations, may sting a little more than was assumed a few weeks ago. “Obama is running a movement campaign, sweeping new people in,” said Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University. “She’s running a traditional campaign of appealing to Democratic constituencies.” “All is not right in Clintonland,” added Bruce Buchanan, political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. Jillson and Buchanan are among the few analysts who understand the state’s unusual trail mix of voting blocs, from blacks in Houston and Dallas to recent Hispanic immigrants in South Texas to more assimilated urban Hispanics to the remaining white liberals who still revere Lyndon Johnson. And in a further challenge to any prognosticators, Texas election rules permit those who registered as Republicans in the past to take Democratic ballots on Tuesday.
Boston Globe
Obama Rides Wave Into Texas
(March 2)
