Washington - Former first lady Hillary Clinton won key
states but failed to knock out Democratic rival Barack Obama in the
Super Tuesday primaries, while Iraq troop surge backer John McCain
took a decisive step toward the Republican nomination.
Clinton took two of the biggest prizes - California and her
current home state of New York - and may have widened her lead in
the delegate count over Obama, who would be the first African-
American president. But Obama was poised to win a larger number of
states and kept the delegate tally close.
'Our time has come, our movement is real, and change is coming to
America,' the US senator from Illinois told supporters in his
hometown of Chicago. He cited support in 'states north and south,
east and west ... a course that cannot be ignored, a course that
cannot be deterred.'
Clinton, 60, struck a presidential tone and sought to present
herself as natural successor to President George W Bush, whose eight
years in the White House end in January.
'Tonight is America's night,' the New York senator said as
results from a record 24 states trickled in. 'Together, we are going
to take back America.'
Yet Obama's message of political and generational change
resonated broadly on a night when loyalists of both parties picked
their preferred presidential candidates in nearly half the US
states.
As the biggest single day of primary votes in US history, Super
Tuesday weighed heavily in the buildup to the November 4 general
election. About half of the delegates to each party's nominating
convention in the summer were at stake Tuesday in state-by-state
contests with a bewildering variety of rules.
In the end, the race between Clinton and Obama, 46, remained
knotted as Democrats struggle to decide who would have the best
chance to return the party to the White House after eight years of
Republican control.
California, the most populous state, exemplified some of the
splits.
Hispanic and Asian voters overwhelmingly backed Clinton, but
white voters narrowly preferred Obama, CNN exit polls said. Black
voters backed Obama over Clinton by a 3-1 margin and also carried
him to important victories in southern states Georgia and Alabama.
New Mexico remained too close to call on Wednesday.
Primaries in the next few weeks may favour Obama, said David
Gergen, a Harvard political scientist and former White House
official.
'The fact is, he gets better when people get to know him more ...
and now he's got a chance to take his case to a lot more people,'
Gergen said on CNN.
With a strong grass-roots organization, Obama also has bulked up
his fundraising power since winning the first 2008 preference poll
in Iowa in January.
Vietnam War veteran McCain, 71, pulled ahead of two Republican
rivals, taking California, New York, Illinois, his home state of
Arizona and a string of others. Long comfortable as the underdog,
the long-serving Republican senator now staked his claim to the
centre- right party's nomination.
'We still have a ways to go, but we're much closer to the victory
we've worked so hard to achieve,' he told cheering supporters in
Arizona. 'I am confident we will get there.'
A split Republican field reflected that party's struggle to
define its post-Bush future and may have helped McCain move out
front on Super Tuesday.
Businessman Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor who
scored early victories, arguably was the night's biggest loser,
falling behind in second place.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist pastor who
appeals to social conservatives, swept five Southern states and
closed in on Romney. Both vowed to stay in the race.
Clinton and Obama have traded bitter attacks on the campaign
trail, though on core issues - bringing US troops home from Iraq,
giving all Americans health insurance, helping middle-class voters
hit by a slowing economy - they disagree mostly on details.
Clinton congratulated Obama for his success on Tuesday - he was
expected to win at least 13 states to Clinton's eight or nine - and
conceded she still had a battle on her hands.
'I look forward to continuing our campaign and our debate about
how to leave this country better off for the next generation,
because that is the work of my life,' she said.
Senator McCain, a Vietnam War veteran who took an unpopular stand
by backing last year's US troop buildup in Iraq, has served in
Congress for a quarter-century and would be the oldest president to
start a first term.
But his relatively moderate social views, principled stand
against torture and politically independent streak could help him
attract critical swing voters. Recent polls make plain that he would
be a formidable opponent for Clinton or Obama, though he faces some
distrust among Republican social conservatives and the religious
right.
'So I think he will have to, should he become the nominee, do
some work, reach out to the base,' said Karen Hughes, a Republican
strategist and former Bush administration official.
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