The 2008 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary took place on February 19, 2008. 74 pledged delegates were at stake. The

2008 Hawaii Democratic presidential caucuses The 2008 Hawaii Democratic presidential caucuses took place on February 19, 2008, with 20 pledged delegates at stake. The winner in each of Hawaii's congressional districts, Hawaii's two congressional districts was awarded all of that district's ...

took place the same day. The Wisconsin primary came after Senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

had won the majority of delegates and votes in 8 straight primaries and caucuses; his wins in Wisconsin, and Hawaii extended his winning streak to 10 and reinforced his

front-runner In politics, a front-runner (also spelled frontrunner or front runner) is a leader in an electoral race. While the front-runner in athletic events (the namesake of the political concept) is generally clear, a political front-runner, particularly i ...

status. In the days leading up to the primary the Hillary Clinton campaign ran television ads criticizing Obama on

healthcare Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

and for not agreeing to more candidate debates. This caused the Obama campaign to launch a response ad that mentioned the 18 debates already held and 2 more scheduled. The Clinton campaign also charged Obama using lines in a speech similar to words spoken by

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Governor and Obama friend

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...

; Patrick responded by saying he and Obama often swap ideas, and that he had willingly shared lines without asking for credit to be given. Barack Obama was the winner.

Polls

Polls taken throughout 2007 consistently put Hillary Clinton in the lead, but during February 2008 most polls showed Barack Obama with the advantage. A

Rasmussen The surname Rasmussen () is a Denmark, Danish and Norway, Norwegian surname, meaning ''Rasmus (given name), Rasmus' son''. It is the ninth-most-common surname in Denmark, shared by about 1.9% of the population.Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

following

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...

. 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%. After the victory in Wisconsin as well as Caucuses in Washington and a primary in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

held on the same day gave Obama the momentum of winning 10 straight contests. The Pledged delegate standing after the Wisconsin Primary was Obama leading 1154-1011.

References

{{2008Demprimaries

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

2008 Wisconsin elections

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

February 2008 events in the United States

Polls

See also

References