Barack Obama edges ahead of Hillary Clinton after Potomac wins

Published on Wednesday 13 February 2008 08:14

BARACK Obama took the lead in the race to become the Democratic Party's presidential nominee with a clean sweep of victories in the Potomac primary election.

Clear wins in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia made it seven straight victories in four days for the young Illinois senator and took his tally of delegates higher than Hillary Clinton's for the first time.

The man who wants to be America's first black president said: "We have now won east and west, north and south, and across the heartland of this country we love."

Exact delegate figures are not yet known, but early estimates by CNN showed Mr Obama now had a total of 1,208, compared with Mrs Clinton's 1,185. Early AP estimates put it at 1,210 to 1,188 in Mr Obama's favour.

The race is so close, it could come down to superdelegates deciding the party's nominee at the national convention this summer.

But Mr Obama now hopes to build momentum from these wins through Wisconsin and Hawaii next week, and on to Texas and Ohio next month, where the former First Lady is concentrating her efforts.

Mrs Clinton made no reference to her string of defeats as she spoke to supporters as the results came in.

And in the Republican contest, the party's presumptive front-runner John McCain also produced a clean sweep of the three states, as Mike Huckabee pledged to fight on.

Exit polls in Virginia showed Mr Obama, 46, was on a roll, winning 90% of the African American vote, 58% of the female vote and even 48% of the white vote (Mrs Clinton won 51% in this last category).

Of those who said the economy was their top issue, 60% voted for Mr Obama, and of those who said Iraq was their top issue, 65% voted for Mr Obama.

In his victory speech, he told supporters in Madison, Wisconsin: "You have lifted my spirits."

To loud cheers, he said: "Tonight we're on our way, but we know how much further we have to go.

"We know it takes more than one night, or even one election, to overcome decades of money and influence, the bitter partisanship and petty bickering that shut you out, let you down, told you to settle.

"We know our road will not be easy but we also know that at this moment the cynics can no longer say that our hope is false.

"We have now won east and west, north and south, and across the heartland of this country we love."

He also referred to Republicans who were voting for him, calling them "Obamacans", and turned his attention to November's presidential election.

He said he would be better placed to take on Mr McCain because the Republicans would never be able to say Mr Obama supported the war in Iraq, whereas Mrs Clinton voted to authorise the war originally.

His wins came after victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state and Maine at the weekend.

But Mrs Clinton, 60, has not won a state since Super Tuesday at the start of the month and today, a day after Maggie Williams replaced Patti Solis Doyle as her campaign manager, her deputy Mike Henry followed his former boss out the door.

In an email to campaign staff, obtained by CNN, he wrote: "As someone who has managed campaigns, I share the unique understanding of the challenges that the campaign will face over the next several weeks.

"Our campaign needs to move quickly to build a new leadership team, support them and their decisions and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the winning outcome for which we have all worked so hard for over a year now."

Mrs Clinton ignored all this at a rally in El Paso, Texas, and told supporters: "I can't think of any better place to start our campaign for Texas than right here in El Paso."

Her strategy is to concentrate on the bigger contests in Texas and Ohio on March 4 – tactics that were likened by many observers to those of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in Florida, where he went from being the national front-runner to virtually inconsequential in the Republican race before pulling out.

"We're going to sweep across Texas in the next three weeks, bringing our message about what we need in America, the kind of president that will be require on day one to be commander-in-chief, to throw the economy around," she said.

"I'm tested, I'm ready, let's make it happen."

In the Republican contest, Mr McCain swept all three states, but a relatively close contest with Mr Huckabee in Virginia served as a reminder that the former Vietnam prisoner of war and Arizona senator still needs to convince the party's core conservatives that he is one of them.

Referring to the Democrats in the general election, Mr McCain told supporters in Alexandria, Virginia: "We know where either of their candidates will lead this country, and we dare not let them.

"They will paint a picture of the world in which America's mistakes are a greater threat to our security than the malevolent intentions of an enemy that despises us and our ideals."

And speaking in Little Rock, Arkansas, Mr Huckabee said he would stay in the race until a Republican – almost certainly Mr McCain – reached 1,191 delegates.

"Until someone gets that magic number, we still have an election process and there is no nominee," he said.

"And once that happens, we've got a nominee, it's time to rally around him."