The Daily Background
| Five questions without answers: The post-Nevada state of the race
by Arlen Parsa
With back to back but close wins in New Hampshire and Nevada (and a win in Michigan, though that doesn’t exactly count), Clinton clearly has momentum going into South Carolina, Florida (though that won’t exactly count) and February 5th. But before that is the January 26th South Carolina primary, the first contest held in the South for Democrats, and Florida’s non-binding primary is on the 29th.
1. Will Obama win South Carolina convincingly enough to regain some of his post-Iowa mo? (And does momentum even matter anymore?)
2. Will the Obama campaign get desperate for a big win in South Carolina? What happens if the outcome is closer than they expect?
3. How much of a role will Michigan and Florida, though stripped of their delegates, actually play in the media CW race?
4. After gaining only 3.75% of the vote and zero delegates in Nevada (rounded up to 4% by most media orgs), how much longer can John Edwards hold on? And if he does stay in the race, how much longer will it take for the media to treat him like Kucinich and Gravel if he continues to net such anemic levels of support?
5. Will the Clinton campaign’s win in Nevada get tarnished at all by 200 allegations of voting irregularities, and their attempted voter suppression in the Silver State?
