Governors from Iowa and three other states who’re backing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are striking back at Hillary Clinton for trying to "diminish" the importance of Obama victories in states like Iowa. "As the governor of Iowa, I am very encouraged by the momentum and the fact that Barack Obama continues to do what he did in Iowa in terms of inspiring and motivating people to get to the polls to vote," Governor Chet Culver said during a telephone conference call set up by the Obama campaign.
Culver and governors from Wisconsin, Washington and Virginia say their so-called "swing" states are important battlegrounds in the November election as they’ve been close contests in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. According to Governor Culver, one of Obama’s main appeals in swing states like Iowa is his ability to attract support from Republicans and Independents. "He’s winning in the popular vote. He’s winning in the delegate count," Culver said. "He’s winning in the number of contests won by a more than two-to-one margin."
Obama has won 30 states, including Iowa’s leadoff Caucuses on January 3rd. While the Clinton campaign argues she has won in big states like California, New York and Florida which are key to victory in November, Governor Culver counters that polls show Obama would fare better in the fall against Republican John McCain. Culver cites a recent Des Moines Register Iowa Poll which found Obama would beat McCain by 17 percent in Iowa, while the survey found Clinton would lose to McCain by nine.
"So it’s not even close in terms of the difference that a candidate like Senator Obama makes in a critically important state for the general election like Iowa," Culver said.
Culver and the other Obama-backing governors also point to data showing more than half of the votes Clinton has won so far have come from just five states.