It is true that Democrat Hillary Clinton can claim to be a native of Illinois, a former first lady of Arkansas and the senator from New York -- all of which are voting today.
But Obama's family roots on his mother's side are in Kansas, which caucuses today. He first attended Occidental College in California, which has a primary today. He then graduated from Columbia University and worked for NYPIRG in New York, which holds a primary today. Then he got a law degree from Harvard in Massachusetts, which holds a primary today. Then he got into politics in Illinois, which also holds a primary today. And to top it all off, he spent four years of his childhood in Jakarta, Indonesia, which is where Democrats Abraod -- which the party counts as a state -- began the process of selecting delegates today.
Obama, who attended local schools in Jakarta from the age of 6 to 10, was clearly a local favorite.
The candidate did not campaign among the expats in Indonesia, but his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, addressed them by phone. She spoke eloquently about her brother's multi-cultural roots and his commitment to changing U.S. foreign policy.
The Clinton campaign sought to counter with a call from retired General Wesley Clark. But the call was garbled, and drew more laughts than votes.
Obama took 75 percent of the roughly 100 ballots cast, an auspicious start in the race for the 11 convention votes of the Democrats Abroad delegation, and perhaps for Super Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20080205/cm_thenation/45280615