Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) swept to solid victories over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y) in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state yesterday, an impressive showing that left the two Democrats in a virtual tie for national delegates but with Obama gaining momentum.
On the Republican side, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee delivered two humiliating defeats to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the Kansas Republican presidential caucuses and the Louisiana primary, but barely lost to McCain in Washington state, according to an Associated Press projection.
Obama also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign. The freshman senator from Illinois celebrated his victories last night in a speech to a Democratic dinner in Richmond Va., on the weekend before important primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
"We won in Louisiana, we won in Nebraska, we won in Washington State," he said. "We won north, we won south, we won in between, and I believe we can win Virginia on Tuesday if you're ready to stand for change."
In the wake of Tuesday's showdown in 21 states that left Clinton and Obama roughly even in the number of pledged delegates, the two lavished attention on Nebraska, Louisiana and Washington state, in a frenetic effort to bulk up their delegate counts. Obama stood to pick up as many as 170 delegates tonight.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama led Clinton, 58 percent to 36 percent, in Louisiana. Obama romped to victory earlier in the evening in Nebraska, 68 percent to 32 percent, and then overwhelmed Clinton in Washington, 68 percent to 31 percent, with 96 percent of the caucus vote counted.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister who first emerged from a crowded field of Republican contenders with an impressive win in the Iowa caucuses, said of his contests with McCain: "We both made our case, and ours seemed to sell pretty well."
"While people in Washington and insiders continue to maybe gravitate to the senator's campaign, people across America are gravitating to our campaign and realizing there is a choice," he said in Washington, D.C.
Although McCain appeared to have locked up the nomination with a strong Super Tuesday performance and former governor Mitt Romney's announcement he was dropping out of the race, Huckabee beat McCain in Kansas, 60 percent to 24 percent, with 11 percent going to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.). With 99 percent of precincts reporting in Louisiana, Huckabee led McCain, 43 percent to 41 percent.
But Huckabee fell short of the 50-percent threshold necessary to claim the 20 delegates that were available. Instead, they will be awarded at a state convention next weekend.
In Washington state, McCain came from behind to score a victory, after clinging to a one or two-percentage point lead for much of the night.
Huckabee has vigorously disputed party leader's assertion that McCain is unstoppable at this point, and he said this evening that he was running strong among conservatives and that the race was far from over. "I didn't major in math," Huckabee told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington, D.C. "I majored in miracles."
"It sends a pretty significant signal to John McCain that he's got a lot of work to do to get significant factions of the Republican Party solidly behind him," Kris Kobach, the Kansas state Republican Party chairman, told the AP.
McCain lost to President Bush in the their party's 2000 presidential campaign.
Although he suffered a big embarrassment today, McCain is far out in front in the race for delegates, with 719 to Huckabee's 234. Even if Huckabee were to win most of the remaining primary contests, which seems unlikely, he could not overtake McCain. A total of 1,191 delegates is needed to secure the Republican nomination.
Still, last night's poor showing by McCain highlighted the serious problems he continues to face in trying to win over his party's conservative base, which distrusts him because of his past stands on tax cuts, immigration reform, campaign finance reform, abortion and other sensitive issues.
President Bush on Friday urged attendees of the conservative conference to unite behind the presumed nominee. Although he did not mention McCain by name, the president said whoever ends up being the Republican nominee will represent conservative values. But the conservatives gave McCain a frosty reception when he spoke to them on Thursday, and yesterday they chose Romney over McCain in a straw poll taken at the end of their gathering.
While the race for the Republican presidential nomination appears virtually over, Clinton and Obama likely will be scrapping for delegates throughout the spring and early summer.
Reports of low turnout in Louisiana caused a wave of concern in the Obama campaign early in the day, Washington Post staff writer Anne Kornblut reported. But those concerns proved to be unfounded, as Obama was swept to victory largely because of overwhelming support from African American voters and about a quarter of white voters, according to exit polling. The state has 66 delegates for the Democratic nomination.
According to Associated Press exit polling, blacks made up close to half the Democratic electorate, while nine in 10 Republican primary voters were white. Of those whites who said race was an issue in their vote, almost 9 in 10 of
them voted for Clinton, while blacks who said it was important voted 9 in 10 for Obama.
The racial gap in Louisiana was more extreme than in many other states this year: 9 in 10 blacks voted for Obama, while 7 in 10 whites voted for Clinton, according to the exit poll.
Close to one in 10 voters in both primaries were under age 30 and one in four were over age 65. Also, one in seven Democratic voters and about one in 10 Republicans said Hurricane Katrina caused their families severe hardship and they have not recovered. Given three choices, nearly half of Democratic voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country.
On Thursday, addressed big crowds in New Orleans and Omaha, marking the first time in 20 years that a major presidential candidate campaigned in Nebraska during a primary campaign. During a speech on the Tulane University campus in New Orleans, Obama pledged to rebuild the hurricane-devastated city, including a new hospital and a $250 million investment to bring teachers and principals back to the Gulf region.
Obama spoke at three major events in Seattle Friday, where he picked up the endorsement of Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Clinton skipped campaigning in Louisiana, but addressed a large rally on Seattle's waterfront Thursday night -- a last-minute addition to her schedule -- and her campaign began airing TV ads in the state touting her universal health care plan. She appeared to be trying to play catch-up with Obama who has been running ads in Washington for the past week.
On Friday, Clinton campaigned in Tacoma and Spokane, while dispatching her husband, former president Bill Clinton, to make appearances throughout Louisiana. There, too, the better-financed Obama campaign has dominated the air war all week with radio and TV ads. Clinton's campaign purchased late-week radio ads in hopes of rallying her supporters to turn out today.
"Senator Obama's campaign has predicted strong victories," said Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson. "Despite this we will continue reaching out to all voters in all communities and states."
The disclosure this week that Clinton had loaned her campaign $5 million to try to match Obama's aggressive TV advertising in many of the Super Tuesday states underscores her problem going forward. Her campaign, which raised more than $100 million in 2007, has suddenly encountered financial problems, just when it is essential that she spend a lot to keep up with Obama in the hunt for delegates.
Before yesterday, Clinton held a slight edge over Obama in the delegate count -- 1,055 to 998 -- with 2,025 delegates needed to claim the Democratic nomination. But that small gap was practically closed with Obama's strong showing, leaving Clinton with 1,084 delegates to Obama's 1,057.
Clinton, campaigning in Maine early yesterday in anticipation of that state's caucuses today, described McCain as a friend but warned that a McCain presidency would be little different from a third Bush administration. Clinton said that Democrats will have a hard time running against the "legendary background" of Republican John McCain, a decorated former Navy pilot, and that she is better positioned than Obama to defeat him in November.
"If our nominee is running against someone with the legendary background of John McCain -- Democrats need to think about this," Clinton said. "Because we're picking a nominee we expect to win. We cannot take four more years of more of the same."
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On the Republican side, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee delivered two humiliating defeats to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the Kansas Republican presidential caucuses and the Louisiana primary, but barely lost to McCain in Washington state, according to an Associated Press projection.
Obama also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign. The freshman senator from Illinois celebrated his victories last night in a speech to a Democratic dinner in Richmond Va., on the weekend before important primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
"We won in Louisiana, we won in Nebraska, we won in Washington State," he said. "We won north, we won south, we won in between, and I believe we can win Virginia on Tuesday if you're ready to stand for change."
In the wake of Tuesday's showdown in 21 states that left Clinton and Obama roughly even in the number of pledged delegates, the two lavished attention on Nebraska, Louisiana and Washington state, in a frenetic effort to bulk up their delegate counts. Obama stood to pick up as many as 170 delegates tonight.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama led Clinton, 58 percent to 36 percent, in Louisiana. Obama romped to victory earlier in the evening in Nebraska, 68 percent to 32 percent, and then overwhelmed Clinton in Washington, 68 percent to 31 percent, with 96 percent of the caucus vote counted.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister who first emerged from a crowded field of Republican contenders with an impressive win in the Iowa caucuses, said of his contests with McCain: "We both made our case, and ours seemed to sell pretty well."
"While people in Washington and insiders continue to maybe gravitate to the senator's campaign, people across America are gravitating to our campaign and realizing there is a choice," he said in Washington, D.C.
Although McCain appeared to have locked up the nomination with a strong Super Tuesday performance and former governor Mitt Romney's announcement he was dropping out of the race, Huckabee beat McCain in Kansas, 60 percent to 24 percent, with 11 percent going to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.). With 99 percent of precincts reporting in Louisiana, Huckabee led McCain, 43 percent to 41 percent.
But Huckabee fell short of the 50-percent threshold necessary to claim the 20 delegates that were available. Instead, they will be awarded at a state convention next weekend.
In Washington state, McCain came from behind to score a victory, after clinging to a one or two-percentage point lead for much of the night.
Huckabee has vigorously disputed party leader's assertion that McCain is unstoppable at this point, and he said this evening that he was running strong among conservatives and that the race was far from over. "I didn't major in math," Huckabee told a cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting in Washington, D.C. "I majored in miracles."
"It sends a pretty significant signal to John McCain that he's got a lot of work to do to get significant factions of the Republican Party solidly behind him," Kris Kobach, the Kansas state Republican Party chairman, told the AP.
McCain lost to President Bush in the their party's 2000 presidential campaign.
Although he suffered a big embarrassment today, McCain is far out in front in the race for delegates, with 719 to Huckabee's 234. Even if Huckabee were to win most of the remaining primary contests, which seems unlikely, he could not overtake McCain. A total of 1,191 delegates is needed to secure the Republican nomination.
Still, last night's poor showing by McCain highlighted the serious problems he continues to face in trying to win over his party's conservative base, which distrusts him because of his past stands on tax cuts, immigration reform, campaign finance reform, abortion and other sensitive issues.
President Bush on Friday urged attendees of the conservative conference to unite behind the presumed nominee. Although he did not mention McCain by name, the president said whoever ends up being the Republican nominee will represent conservative values. But the conservatives gave McCain a frosty reception when he spoke to them on Thursday, and yesterday they chose Romney over McCain in a straw poll taken at the end of their gathering.
While the race for the Republican presidential nomination appears virtually over, Clinton and Obama likely will be scrapping for delegates throughout the spring and early summer.
Reports of low turnout in Louisiana caused a wave of concern in the Obama campaign early in the day, Washington Post staff writer Anne Kornblut reported. But those concerns proved to be unfounded, as Obama was swept to victory largely because of overwhelming support from African American voters and about a quarter of white voters, according to exit polling. The state has 66 delegates for the Democratic nomination.
According to Associated Press exit polling, blacks made up close to half the Democratic electorate, while nine in 10 Republican primary voters were white. Of those whites who said race was an issue in their vote, almost 9 in 10 of
them voted for Clinton, while blacks who said it was important voted 9 in 10 for Obama.
The racial gap in Louisiana was more extreme than in many other states this year: 9 in 10 blacks voted for Obama, while 7 in 10 whites voted for Clinton, according to the exit poll.
Close to one in 10 voters in both primaries were under age 30 and one in four were over age 65. Also, one in seven Democratic voters and about one in 10 Republicans said Hurricane Katrina caused their families severe hardship and they have not recovered. Given three choices, nearly half of Democratic voters said the economy was the most important issue facing the country.
On Thursday, addressed big crowds in New Orleans and Omaha, marking the first time in 20 years that a major presidential candidate campaigned in Nebraska during a primary campaign. During a speech on the Tulane University campus in New Orleans, Obama pledged to rebuild the hurricane-devastated city, including a new hospital and a $250 million investment to bring teachers and principals back to the Gulf region.
Obama spoke at three major events in Seattle Friday, where he picked up the endorsement of Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Clinton skipped campaigning in Louisiana, but addressed a large rally on Seattle's waterfront Thursday night -- a last-minute addition to her schedule -- and her campaign began airing TV ads in the state touting her universal health care plan. She appeared to be trying to play catch-up with Obama who has been running ads in Washington for the past week.
On Friday, Clinton campaigned in Tacoma and Spokane, while dispatching her husband, former president Bill Clinton, to make appearances throughout Louisiana. There, too, the better-financed Obama campaign has dominated the air war all week with radio and TV ads. Clinton's campaign purchased late-week radio ads in hopes of rallying her supporters to turn out today.
"Senator Obama's campaign has predicted strong victories," said Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson. "Despite this we will continue reaching out to all voters in all communities and states."
The disclosure this week that Clinton had loaned her campaign $5 million to try to match Obama's aggressive TV advertising in many of the Super Tuesday states underscores her problem going forward. Her campaign, which raised more than $100 million in 2007, has suddenly encountered financial problems, just when it is essential that she spend a lot to keep up with Obama in the hunt for delegates.
Before yesterday, Clinton held a slight edge over Obama in the delegate count -- 1,055 to 998 -- with 2,025 delegates needed to claim the Democratic nomination. But that small gap was practically closed with Obama's strong showing, leaving Clinton with 1,084 delegates to Obama's 1,057.
Clinton, campaigning in Maine early yesterday in anticipation of that state's caucuses today, described McCain as a friend but warned that a McCain presidency would be little different from a third Bush administration. Clinton said that Democrats will have a hard time running against the "legendary background" of Republican John McCain, a decorated former Navy pilot, and that she is better positioned than Obama to defeat him in November.
"If our nominee is running against someone with the legendary background of John McCain -- Democrats need to think about this," Clinton said. "Because we're picking a nominee we expect to win. We cannot take four more years of more of the same."
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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