February 05, 2008 10:04 am
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The co-chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign in Kansas predicted Monday that she wouldn’t win its Democratic caucuses because of the resources put into the state by rival candidate Barack Obama.
Dan Lykins, a Topeka attorney and state Democratic Party treasurer, made his comments after Gov. Kathleen Sebelius campaigned for Obama at gatherings on three college campuses. Sebelius endorsed Obama last week and appeared in a television ad in the Wichita market.
Kansas Democrats plan to caucus Tuesday at 50 sites. At stake will be 32 of the state’s 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer in Denver.
“This is truly, tomorrow night, going to be a David-and-Goliath event, and Senator Clinton is the David,” he said. “We know that we are going to be dramatically outnumbered on people — there’s no doubt about it.”
Obama’s campaign in Kansas wouldn’t offer any predictions, saying only that they’re working on getting as many supporters as possible to the caucuses. They also acknowledged his campaign put more resources into trying to capture Kansas delegates.
How Dems do it:
DATE: Tuesday.
LOCATION: 50 sites across the state.
BECOMING ELIGIBLE: Caucus workers will check each voter’s name against a list of registered Democrats; people who aren’t registered but wish to do so can fill out voter registration cards, but they must be able to tell workers their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
GETTING IN: Doors to caucus sites open at 6 p.m. local time. After 7 p.m., people won’t be allowed to get into line to verify their eligibility to vote.
VOTING: A caucus leader will direct voters to certain areas, where they’ll cluster with like-minded voters. There will be one area for Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as former candidates John Edwards, Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich, all of whom could get delegates. There will also be a designated place for uncommitted voters.
After 30 minutes, a preliminary count will be taken. A “realignment” period will then begin, during which voters can move from group to group. Then, a final count will be taken. The process is modeled after Iowa.
AT STAKE: 32 of the state’s 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25-28 in Denver. The other nine delegates — party leaders, elected officials and an unnamed, unpledged “add-on” — go to the convention, no matter whom they support.
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