There are two ways to look at the results of the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses yesterday. One is to note the closeness in the the number of votes. Taking Guam as a single entity, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were only separated by seven votes, Obama winning the election 2,264 to 2,257.
That makes the election seem very close. The caucuses were more complex than that, though, and Barack Obama’s victory was actually much more dramatic, when looked at the level of districts won.
Barack Obama won two-thirds of the districts – 14 out of 21. That suggests superior campaign organization on Obama’s part – an organization that Obama claimed was built on grassroots power: “Our campaign is based on the premise that change happens from the bottom up, no matter how far you may be from Washington. And on Guam, we’ve built a real grassroots movement for change with dedicated supporters from every village across the island,” said Obama, upon winning the election.
Then there’s the matter of delegates gained. The pledged delegates gained yesterday were 2 for Obama and 2 for Clinton, but there was another Democratic Party contest as well. The position of Vice Chair of the Guam Democratic committee was on the ballot too – giving Guam voters the chance to vote for a superdelegate. A Clinton supporter and an Obama supporter ran for the Vice Chair position – and Guam voters chose the Obama supporter.
That makes the results of the Guam election in total 3 delegates for Obama and 2 for Clinton, making it even more difficult for Hillary Clinton to gain the nomination, even by exerting pressure on superdelegates.
———-
Related campaign gear:
- Obama in O-Guam-A bumper sticker
- Earth for Obama
- Oceanographers for Obama
