Candidates sprint cross country, Maine nods to Romney

Feb 3, 2008, 11:22 GMT

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney addresses supporters at a rally in Edina, Minneapolis, USA, 02 February 2008. EPA/Andy Blenkush EPA/Andy Blenkush

Washington - Presidential hopefuls were jetting across the country this weekend in pursuit of victory on super Tuesday, the largest presidential preference vote in US history.

All told, Republicans and Democrats will be voting in more than 20 states on Tuesday. The number of convention delegates at stake is more than half that needed to win the nomination in each party.

On the Democratic side, former first lady and Senator Hillary Clinton, 60, still held up to a 10 per cent lead over Senator Barack Obama, 46, in national polls - a lead that newspaper analysts said may be hard to make up.

The two are engaged in a bitter battle for delegates to the national nominating convention in August in Denver which, under complex, diverse rules, could give more delegates to a candidate even if he or she loses the popular vote in a state.

Obama won the endorsement of the Los Angeles Times, and has the wind in his sails from this week's endorsement by Democratic Party icons Senator Edward Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy, the brother and daughter of slain president John F Kennedy.

The two have excited crowds as they stump cross country. They have both compared his ability to inspire voters with that of JFK and his brother Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated while running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968.

Obama and Clinton are nearly on a par when it comes to the all- important campaign coffers, meaning they can afford high price advertising in the key states of California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey that are up for grabs in party voting on Tuesday.

Clinton raised 115.6 million dollars to Obama's 102.2 million dollars by the end of 2007, according to a report released earlier this week.

On the Republican side, Senator John McCain, 71, has a strong lead over his chief rival, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, 60, but is outmatched in the area of finance compared to the wealthy former corporate businessman.

Mitt Romney has a campaign coffer of 88.5 million dollars, more than double that of McCain's 41.1 million dollars, meaning he can afford to fly more places and buy more television advertising.

McCain won the liberal Los Angeles Times endorsement for his party - a move that many said could detract from his support among religious conservatives.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, 52, places a distant third in the Republican scramble.

Little noticed on Saturday was the fact that Romney was leading in a three-day preference caucus in the small north-east state of Maine, with 53 per cent of the vote compared to McCain's 22 per cent, according to a count of 41 per cent of the precincts.

Voting will end on Sunday in the small state.

A win in Maine could boost Romney's standing among Republicans after he lost the important, larger New Hampshire, Florida and South Carolina preference votes in recent weeks to McCain.

Maine Republicans are debating their favourites town-by-town, in homes and churches. The votes represent the will of a group, not individuals.

For the first time this year, 17-year-olds are being allowed to vote in the Maine presidential preference vote as long as they turn 18 by the general elections on November 4.

The Maine Democratic caucuses are February 10.