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Barack Obama powered past Hillary Rodham
Clinton in the race for Democratic convention delegates Tuesday on
a night of triumph sweetened with outsized primary victories in
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

      "Tonight we're on our way," Obama told cheering supporters in
Madison, Wis. "But we know how much further we have to go," he
added, celebrating eight straight victories over Clinton, the
former first lady now struggling in a race she once commanded.

      The Associated Press count of delegates showed Obama with 1,210.
Clinton had 1,188, falling behind for the first time since the
campaign began. Neither was close to the 2,025 needed to win the
nomination.

      His victories were by large margins - he was gaining about 75
percent of the vote in the nation's capital and nearly two-thirds
in Virginia. In Maryland, he was winning close to 60 percent.

      By contrast, Clinton was attempting to retool her campaign in
the midst of a losing streak. Her deputy campaign manager resigned,
the second high-level departure in as many days.

      Campaigning in Texas, where she hopes to triumph on March 4, she
said she was looking ahead, not back.

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

      Republican front-runner John McCain won all three GOP primaries,
adding to his insurmountable lead in delegates for the Republican
nomination. He congratulated Mike Huckabee, his sole remaining
major rival and a potential vice presidential running mate, then
turned his focus on the Democrats.

      "We know where either of their candidates will lead this
country, and we dare not let them," he told supporters in
Alexandria, Va. "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."

      Interviews with voters leaving the polls showed Obama split the
white vote with Clinton in Virginia, though she won it by 10
percentage points in Maryland. He won 90 percent of the black vote
in Virginia and almost as much in Maryland. She won a majority of
white women in both states, though by less than she is accustomed
to. He won among white men in Virginia, and they split that vote in
Maryland.

      In all, there were 168 Democratic delegates at stake Tuesday.

      Obama moved past Clinton in the delegate chase on the basis of
the day's primaries and newly released results from last Saturday's
Washington caucuses. Additional delegates still to be allocated
from his new victories were certain to add to his lead.

      McCain's victory in Virginia was a relatively close one, the
result of an outpouring of religious conservatives who backed
Huckabee.

      Four in 10 Republican voters said they were born again or
evangelical Christians - twice as many as called themselves members
of the religious right in 2000 - and nearly 70 percent of them
supported Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister.

      Virginia voters could vote in either primary in their state. In
a twist, Huckabee was running slightly ahead of McCain among
independents, who cast about a fifth of the Republican votes there.

      There were 113 delegates at stake in the three GOP races.

      The AP count showed McCain with 789 delegates. Former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race last
week, had 288. Huckabee had 241 and Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 14.

      It takes 1,191 delegates to clinch the Republican nomination,
and McCain appears to be on track to reach the target by late
April.

      "Until someone gets that magic number, we still have an
election process and there is no nominee," Huckabee said. "And
once that happens, we've got a nominee, it's time to rally around
him."

      The Democratic race was the definition of unsettled, with
Clinton surrendering her long-held lead in delegates, having shed
her campaign manager and lent her campaign $5 million in recent
days, and facing defeats next week in Wisconsin and Hawaii.

      As the votes were counted in her latest setbacks, her deputy
campaign manager stepped down. Mike Henry announced his departure
one day after Patti Solis Doyle was replaced as campaign manager
with Maggie Williams, a longtime confidante of the former first
lady.

      Clinton hopes to respond with victories in Texas and Ohio on
March 4, states where both candidates have already begun television
advertising.

      Since last week's Super Tuesday contests in 22 states, Obama had
won a primary in Louisiana as well as caucuses in Nebraska,
Washington and Maine, all of them by large margins.

      Obama has campaigned before huge crowds in recent days, and far
outspent his rival on TV advertising in the states participating in
the regional primary in Maryland, Virginia and the District of
Columbia.

      He began airing commercials in the region more than a week ago,
and spent an estimated $1.4 million. Clinton began hers last
Friday, at a cost estimated at $210,000.

      With Clinton facing a series of possible defeats, and Obama
riding a wave of momentum, the two camps debated which contender is
more likely to defeat McCain in the general election.

      An Associated Press-Ipsos poll found Obama with a narrow lead
over the Arizona senator in a potential match-up, and Clinton
running about even.

      "We bring in voters who haven't given Democrats a chance" in
the past, said Obama pollster Cornell Belcher, citing support from
independents.

      Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, countered that she holds
appeal for women voters and Hispanics. "Hillary Clinton has a
coalition of voters well-suited to winning the general election,"
he said.

Gallery

Politics and Government News

Barack Obama powered past Hillary Rodham
Clinton in the race for Democratic convention delegates Tuesday on
a night of triumph sweetened with outsized primary victories in
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.


Obama, McCain sweep Potamac primaries

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