February
6, 2008 Clinton, Obama in
Dead Heat; McCain Ahead By Arun Kumar
Washington
Super Tuesday's battle for presidential nominations ended in a
virtual dead heat for Democrats with Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama carving up the country, while John McCain took a big lead
among Republicans.
In the biggest day of primaries to pick nominees for the Nov 4 poll,
Obama, hoping to be America's first black president won 13 states,
Clinton aspiring to be the first woman to occupy the oval office
took eight in the coast-to-coast contests in 22 states.
But Clinton's wins included the key prizes of California and New
York, making for a virtual draw in the hard-fought Democratic duel
and pointing to a prolonged struggle for party nomination.
The Clinton and Obama camps said they expected Tuesday's delegate
count to wind up relatively even. Overall, by early Wednesday,
Clinton had 845 delegates and Obama 765, the Washington Post said,
well short of the 2,025 either needs to win the nomination.
A new round of contests in a half-dozen states are scheduled within
the next week, including Maryland, Virginia and the District of
Columbia. These are likely to give a clearer idea whether Obama can
continue his surge against Clinton.
But the Republicans seemed closer to picking up their nominee with
Vietnam War veteran John McCain winning nine contests, including
victories in California and the Northeast, to take a commanding lead
in the Republican race.
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won seven states, while
former Arkansas governor's Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher, won
five.
The Post said McCain now had 613 delegates to Romney's 269 and
Huckabee's 190, with 1,191 needed to win. McCain, who lost the
Republican primary race in 2000 to George W. Bush, still faces a
struggle to win over conservatives in the party, who oppose his
views on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform.
As Romney and Huckabee vowed to fight on, the New York Times said
Huckabee underlined Romney's weakness by posting a series of
victories, in a performance that highlighted the discomfort social
conservatives have with the field.
"Huckabee's relatively strong showing was both a blessing and a
curse for McCain, though perhaps more of a blessing," it said. "It
injected a small note of uncertainty into the Republican race, and
potentially delayed the day when Mr. McCain would have the stage to
himself."
But Huckabee appeared to drain votes primarily away from Romney,
contributing to his overall weak showing on this night.
"This split in the road for Democrats and Republicans should - if
and when McCain can claim his party's nomination - be a welcome
development for McCain, who would have time to begin quelling doubts
about him among conservatives," the Times said.
The consensus in the US media Wednesday was that Democratic contests
left the race still up in the air with USA Today saying the
Democratic contest "sprinted through 22 states Tuesday and emerged
as it was before: deadlocked".
The New York Times said it was "a night when neither" Obama nor
Clinton "could decisively lay claim - or even secure an edge - to
the nomination, assuring an electoral fight that will unfold for
weeks to come".
The Wall Street Journal noted the rules "governing allocation of
delegates" are "certain to keep the race going in the states to
come".
The Los Angeles Times said Clinton and Obama "duelled to a Super
Tuesday draw, capturing states big and small and padding their
delegate counts in a Democratic contest that remains highly
competitive".
The New York Times said exit polls "showed formidable strengths for
each candidate, with Obama gaining appeal with white voters -
particularly white men - and Clinton solidifying her support among
Hispanics".
The Washington Post said the elections "laid bare a profound racial
and ethnic divide among Democratic voters, with African Americans
overwhelmingly preferring Barack Obama, while Latinos largely
favoured Hillary Clinton".
Clinton "did well with seniors, low-income voters and registered
Democrats. Obama was strong with independents, younger people, the
affluent and the highly educated," added USA Today.
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