From Clark County:
http://www.columbian.com/news/local...US-Wire-service-reports-strong-Obama-lead.cfm
2008 WASHINGTON CAUCUS: Wire service reports strong Obama lead
Saturday, February 09, 2008
BY JEFFREY MIZE AND MICHAEL ANDERSEN, Columbian staff writers
The Associated Press is reporting that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has a big lead in Washington state's Democratic caucuses.
With about 24 percent of the results in, Obama was winning 65 percent of delegates to New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's 33 percent, the AP reported shortly after 5 p.m. The wire service reported that Obama is running strong across the state, winning at caucus sites in a wide variety of communities from Seattle to Yakima and Renton to Chehalis.
Washington State Democrats reported a record numbers of voters - possibly twice as man as in 2004's caucuses, which drew 100,000 people. More complete results are expected after 6 p.m.
Visits to two caucuses in Vancouver and Battle Ground showed strong support for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Ron Paul.
At Discovery Middle School, Democrats who packed the school’s commons areas favored Obama 2-to-1 over Hillary Clinton. Forty delegates who support Obama were selected for the party’s legislative and county conventions, compared with 20 for Clinton.
Results from the Republican caucus were more evenly divided, with 10 delegates supporting Paul and eight for John McCain, who has all but wrapped up his party’s nomination.
Mike Huckabee received two delegates. Rudy Giuliani, who had dropped out of the race following the Florida primary and endorsed McCain, picked up a single delegate while two delegates are undecided.
Obama and Paul supporters also dominated many precincts meeting at Battle Ground High School, which hosted about 500 people for north-county Republican and Democratic caucuses.
"It's the triumph of hope over experience," said Brad Jeffries, 60, a computer consultant who was Clinton's only supporter in Hockinson precinct 625. "I was hoping there was actually somebody else who cared."
Down the hall in the library, eight of Jeffries' Republican neighbors had shown up for the caucus: five for Paul, two for Mitt Romney and one for Mike Huckabee.
All five of the 625th precinct's GOP delegates to the county convention would be Paul supporters, people at the table said.
"It went faster than I thought it would," said Dawn Woolcott, 44, a Hockinson homemaker who caucused for Obama in precinct 610. "I wish more people didn't think it was so daunting."
These results are from only one of several dozen caucus sites in Clark County. Complete tallies from Clark County and the state will be released later this afternoon and evening.