Key Clinton supporter predicts Obama win in Kansas caucuses

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With BC-KS--Caucuses-Money, BC-KS--How They'll Vote

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By JOHN HANNA

AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The co-chairman of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign in Kansas predicted Monday that she wouldn't win its Democratic caucuses because of the resources put into the state by rival candidate Barack Obama.

Dan Lykins, a Topeka attorney and state Democratic Party treasurer, made his comments after Gov. Kathleen Sebelius campaigned for Obama at gatherings on three college campuses. Sebelius endorsed Obama last week and appeared in a television ad in the Wichita market.

Kansas Democrats plan to caucus Tuesday at 50 sites. At stake will be 32 of the state's 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention this summer in Denver.

"This is truly, tomorrow night, going to be a David-and-Goliath event, and Senator Clinton is the David," he said. "We know that we are going to be dramatically outnumbered on people -- there's no doubt about it."

Obama's campaign in Kansas wouldn't offer any predictions, saying only that they're working on getting as many supporters as possible to the caucuses. They also acknowledged his campaign put more resources into trying to capture Kansas delegates.

"All those things are indications of Obama's commitment to a 50-state strategy and to reaching out to voters in red states as well as blue states," said Dan Watkins, a Lawrence attorney who is Obama's senior Kansas adviser. "Even Kansas' 1 percent counts, just like Idaho's 1 percent counts and North Dakota's half-percent counts."

Caucus sites open at 6 p.m. and participants will have an hour to get into line to have their eligibility checked. Party officials are expecting large crowds but acknowledged that winter weather could hurt turnout.

About 1,300 people participated in caucuses in 2004, but they weren't held until mid-March, when the Democratic race had been decided. Chairman Larry Gates said the party expects at least 10,000 people to participate this year.

"Assuming that the weather is as good as we can expect in February, I think we'll have a huge turnout," Gates said. "Both campaigns are very, very active."

Obama opened a Kansas campaign headquarters in October in Lawrence, and last month, the Illinois senator opened offices in Topeka and Wichita. As of Monday, he had 20 campaign staffers in Kansas.

Clinton dedicated three staff members to Kansas and opened offices in Kansas City, Topeka and Wichita last month.

Her campaign set up a national "town hall" meeting Monday night, linking at least one site in each Super Tuesday state with her by teleconference. One site was in Wichita.

The New York senator raised almost $132,000 in 2007 from Kansas, according to Federal Election Commission reports, but the total for Obama was more than $141,000.

"It's obvious the Obama people started their campaign in Kansas earlier than the Clinton people. They have more paid staff," Lykins said. "They have put out a lot of expensive campaign literature all over the state. We have not done that."

Sebelius also has been a visible part of Obama's campaign, appearing at a rally with the candidate last week in El Dorado, then in the television ad. On Monday, she was featured at Obama events at Kansas State University in Manhattan, the University of Kansas in Lawrence and Washburn University in Topeka.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, whose state has a Feb. 19 primary, joined Sebelius at Washburn and the University of Kansas.

At Washburn, Doyle told about 40 people that in the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy inspired him to spend two years in Africa with the Peace Corps. He said Obama has the same ability to inspire voters.

But Lykins, who worked for Robert F. Kennedy in 1967 and 1968, said he and other veteran Democrats are supporting Clinton because of her experience working on public policy.

"Inspiration won't get you very far unless you've been in the trenches, working, and know how to get things done," Lykins said.

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On the Net:

Kansas Democratic Party: http://www.ksdp.org

Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/

Clinton campaign: http://www.hillaryclinton.com