In the prolonged national race between two U.S. senators, Obama defeated Clinton in Montana because of a strong grass-roots advantage, a loyal following of young voters and a decided financial edge.
With 64 percent of the precincts reporting, the Democratic preliminary results showed:
Clinton: 51,154 votes, 40 percent.
No preference: 2,997 votes, 2 percent.
At stake were 17 delegates to the Democratic presidential nominating convention in Denver in late August. Five of Montana's superdelegates, including the party's major elected officials, jumped on board the Obama bandwagon shortly after he was declared the winner Tuesday night, joining three other superdelegates who had endorsed him weeks ago.
Gabe Cohen, Montana state director of the Obama campaign, said his boss won the primary because of the volunteer force and others who started many months ago.
“We won the primary today, but we start on the general election tomorrow,” he said to the crowd gathered at a victory party. “With your help, we are going to win Montana and Barack Obama will be our next president.”
Matt McKenna, manager of Clinton's Montana campaign, said: “Our staff and volunteers worked tirelessly on Hillary's behalf over the past weeks and we're so proud of the grass-roots support we've seen across this state. Tonight, we want to congratulate Senator Obama on his victory in Montana and thank everyone who has been a part of our effort here.”
On the Republican side, presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain scored a big win over Rep. Ron Paul, although the GOP primary results mean little. Republicans already gave Mitt Romney their entire 25 delegates after a Feb. 5 caucus of 1,600 party and elected officials. Romney dropped out of the race shortly thereafter and released his delegates.
With 55 percent of the precincts reporting, Republican results were:
McCain: 49,456 votes, 78 percent.
Paul: 12,882 votes, 20 percent.
No preference: 1,406 votes, 2 percent.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, joined by U.S. Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, Montana Democratic Party Chairman Dennis McDonald of Melville and Vice Chairwoman Margarett Campbell of Poplar jointly announced they, too, would cast their votes for Obama in Denver.
Schweitzer said he and the others were waiting to see “the will of the people” in the showdown between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton before announcing their pick.
Schweitzer said he supported Obama both because Montanans did and because he personally thought Obama was the right candidate.
“I think the people of Montana have made a great choice,” he said.
Three other Montana superdelegates had already announced their support of Obama: Democratic national committeeman Ed Tinsley of Helena, national committeewoman Jean Lemire Dahlman of Forsyth and former U.S. Sen. John Melcher of Missoula.
At Miller's Crossing, a Helena bar and grill, a standing-room-only crowd gathered to celebrate Obama's victory.
Waitresses wearing Obama T-shirts, weaved through the crowd serving “Obama Pale Ale,” from the next-door Blackfoot River Brewery, which renamed its Organic Pale Ale for the evening. Helena graphic artist Kevin Casey designed an Obama Pale Ale logo for the tap handle.
State Democratic Chairman McDonald, asked about Obama's chances this November and in Montana, said: “As a cattle rancher, I recognize a stampede when I see one. I haven't seen this kind of excitement since I worked on Robert Kennedy's campaign in 1968.”
On Montana votes: “I happen to believe the Montana vote has been important and significant. What's important is that all of these votes played a part in this process called democracy.”
Beth Murphy, teacher at C.R. Anderson Middle School in Helena, was the first Obama volunteer in Helena, starting 15 months ago with tables in a local park near the farmers market, and organizing speech-watching parties and a book club at the library to discuss “The Audacity of Hope.”
She says she heard about Obama, read his book, did some other research and decided he was her candidate.
On Obama clinching the nomination: “It's so beautiful that hope actually mattered; now look where we are now,” she said.
Matt Chandler, Obama's spokesman in Montana, said when he went to grab dinner at Taco Bell at about 7 p.m., Obama was still seven delegates short of clinching the nomination. When he came back to Miller's a half-hour later, it was over.
Obama backers also converted the rock “H” that decorates Mount Helena into the Obama logo.
For Montana, it was a rare campaign season in the national political spotlight, with Obama and Clinton scraping for votes across the state. Usually Montana is ignored by presidential candidates because of the state's late primary.
Obama and Clinton campaigned in some of the state's major cities, appearing before thousands of people, and traveled to some Indian reservations. Lawns in many cities featured Obama or Clinton yard signs.
In addition, Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, spoke in more than a dozen Montana cities, while Obama's wife, Michelle, appeared in Billings and Kalispell this week.
A Lee Newspapers poll, taken May 19-21, showed Obama led Clinton among 400 likely Democratic voters by a 52 percent-to-35 percent margin, with 13 percent undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Obama drew strong support from students in university cities in western Montana and built a strong grass-roots organization with Montana volunteers and paid staffers who moved here after working in other primary states.
Clinton's campaign counted on the support of many women and one prominent Montana political couple, former U.S. Rep. Pat Williams and his wife, state Senate Majority Leader Carol Williams of Missoula.
Obama, who raised far more money than Clinton did nationally, used some of that to his financial advantage in Montana. The Illinois senator ran television ads for most of May and early June, while Clinton started her television spots last week.
Watch Video from the Clinton party at The Shack
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