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Team Obama Prepares for Stalemate

Leaked memo forecasts dead heat with Clinton for nom

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 7, 2008 10:54 AM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama's campaign is preparing for a deadlocked contest with Hillary Clinton and forecasting a virtual tie in the race for Democratic delegates, according to an internal memo. Bloomberg reports Obama's advisers envision him winning 19 of 27 remaining primaries but giving Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to Clinton. That scenario would give Obama a lead in delegates but not an outright majority.

The battle would then hinge upon two factors: first, Clinton's attempt to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan, whom the Democratic National Committee has disqualified but who are pledged to her; and second, the allegiances of 796 superdelegates, roughly half of whom are unaffiliated. An Obama spokesman insisted the inadvertently leaked memo was "only one of an infinite number of scenarios."

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., watches a campaign rally video on a journalist laptop while other members of the media look on during his flight from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans Wednesday, Feb 6, 2008.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., watches a campaign rally video on a journalist laptop while other members of the media look on during his flight from Washington, D.C. to New...   (Associated Press)
Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., gestures during a news conference at her campaign headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 in Arlington, Va.  Clinton and Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama dug in Wednesday for an extended battle for the Democratic presidential nomination after splitting wins Tuesday in the biggest...
Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., gestures during a news conference at her campaign headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 in Arlington, Va. Clinton and Democratic presidential rival...   (Associated Press)
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, after voting on an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008, after voting on an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)....   (Associated Press)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves to the crowd after his address at a Super Tuesday election night party Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008, in Chicago.  (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., waves to the crowd after his address at a Super Tuesday election night party Tuesday, Feb 5, 2008, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)   (Associated Press)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., talks with reporters during a flight from Boise, Idaho, to Minneapolis, Minn., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., talks with reporters during a flight from Boise, Idaho, to Minneapolis, Minn., Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)   (Associated Press)
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