Obama prevails, Huckabee resists

Sunday 10 February 2008

Barack Obama cruised to victory in Democratic contests in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington state, while Mike Huckabee snatched Kansas and Louisiana from Republican favourite John McCain, who held on to Washington state. (Report: K.Williams)

Barack Obama easily swept Democratic presidential contests in three states on Saturday, striking the latest blows in a bruising back-and-forth battle with Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination.
 

Obama cruised to decisive wins in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington to gain a small dose of momentum in a deadlocked, state-by-state fight with Clinton for convention delegates who will choose the party's presidential nominee.
 

"Today, the voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say yes, we can," Obama said
at a party dinner in Richmond, Virginia, a state that votes on Tuesday.
 

"We won in Louisiana, we won in Nebraska, we won in Washington state, we won North, we won South, we won in
between, and I believe that we can win Virginia on Tuesday if you're ready to stand for change," the Illinois senator said.
 

Among Republicans, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won contests in Louisiana and Kansas, dealing setbacks to
front-runner John McCain two days after the Arizona senator had essentially sewed up the nomination.
 

The wins by Huckabee, whose campaign has been fueled by support from social and religious conservatives, highlighted
the continuing discontent with McCain among party conservatives.
 

"This race is far from being over," Huckabee told reporters after crushing McCain in Kansas. Two days earlier, McCain
became the all-but-certain nominee with the withdrawal of his chief rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
 

Huckabee and McCain were running close in partial returns in Washington, which also voted on Saturday in the Republican race to choose a candidate in November's presidential election to succeed President George W. Bush.
 

Huckabee, captured about 60 percent of the vote in Kansas, more than double McCain's total, and narrowly beat McCain in
Louisiana.
 

Huckabee is now the only major opponent for McCain, who has rolled up more than 700 of the 1,191 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination at this summer's convention. Texas Rep. Ron Paul also remains in the race.
 

EASY WINS
 

Obama cruised to easy wins in Nebraska and Washington, doubling Clinton's tally with more than 60 percent of the vote,
and comfortably beat Clinton in Louisiana with more than half of the vote.
 

Obama also won in the U.S. territory of the Virgin Islands, which has three delegates to the nominating convention.
 

Clinton, a New York senator, and Obama are about even in pledged delegates but well short of the 2,025 needed to win the nomination.
 

Democratic rules allocate delegates on a proportional basis statewide and in congressional districts, meaning even the
loser in each state can win big blocks of delegates.
 

It was not immediately clear how the delegate count would break down in the three states, where a combined 158 convention delegates were at stake.
 

Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, had been the favorite in all three contests. In Louisiana, he had
been expected to benefit from a high percentage of black voters, his strongest supporters.
 

Exit polls showed blacks made up about half of the turnout in the state on Saturday, and Obama won four of every five of
their votes. Clinton captured about 70 percent of whites, with Obama taking about one-quarter of their vote.