Clinton, Obama race still tight; McCain soars on Super Tuesday

Feb 6, 2008, 16:28 GMT

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.