For what it's worth: Obama wins

[Ethelk2044]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070912/NEWS01/709120358

OAKLEY - It won't help make him the Democratic presidential nominee, but Illinois Sen. Barack Obama came out on top Tuesday night, winning a straw poll of Hamilton County Democratic Party activists.

Nearly 300 local Democrats crowded into the 20th Century Theater on Oakley Square to choose from among a slate of eight Democratic presidential contenders.

When the votes were tallied, Obama won with 102 votes - about 35 percent - over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (69 votes) and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (64 votes).

Another 50 votes were spread among five other candidates.

"It's tremendous," said state Sen. Eric Kearney, an Obama supporter who has hosted a fundraiser for the Illinois senator in Cincinnati. "It's exciting."

The straw poll won't mean anything in the end. Ohio's presidential primary comes in March. By that time, most Democrats believe the presidential nomination will be in the bag, given the number of early primary and caucus states that precede Ohio.

But Obama supporters seemed well-organized at Tuesday's straw poll, with volunteers out on the street in front of the theater passing out Obama T-shirts and stickers, and urging the arriving Democrats to vote.

[Dawgs]

1. This is exactly what I expect in the primaries.

I think Hillary is the default pick in polls. She does not have the enthusiastic backing of others; like Obama. It's the Edwards and Obama supporters that will vote, not necessarily those that are picking Hillary in the polls.