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Candidates struggle for edge
19/01/2008 11:17 - (SA)
Washington - White House hopefuls struggled for an edge in tight nomination races unfolding on Saturday in Nevada and South Carolina that were shadowed by racial politics and the threat of economic recession.
No front-runner had emerged in either party as South Carolina's Republicans headed for the polls and Nevadans of both parties prepared for the novelty of caucuses. South Carolina will hold the Democrats' primary later in the month.
"My friends, these are challenging times," Republican John McCain told supporters on Friday while aboard a World War II aircraft carrier in Charleston's harbour. He was referring to the slumping economy, but he could have been talking about the intensity and the expense of the neck-and-neck fight for the Republican nomination.
In the East, Republicans battled for delegates in South Carolina, home of 6.6% unemployment in December after the largest one-month increase in nearly 20 years. Political viability was at stake for McCain, Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson; Mitt Romney, meanwhile, lowered expectations for his prospects in South Carolina by moving on to the western state of Nevada.
To the West, candidates of both parties braced for caucuses in Nevada that for Democrats have been mired in legal disputes and exchanges about race. The uncertainty stemmed in large part from earlier-than-usual voting in the nation's fastest-growing state.
Among the Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards ganged up on Barack Obama in the final days, mocking his evocation of Ronald Reagan in an effort to offset Obama's endorsement by the powerful Culinary Workers Union. Obama was thought to benefit from special caucus rules that Clinton tried but failed to overturn in federal court.
Altogether, the contests would determine a hefty delegate haul - 25 Democratic, 58 Republican - and kick off a sprint through the South to Florida.
Before then, South Carolina Democrats - the majority of whom are black - will chose a nominee on January 29.
For both parties, Florida's voters go to the polls on January 29. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has focused virtually all of his efforts on the state.
Still ahead for those who remain is "Mega Tuesday", February 5, when two dozen states cast what could be deciding votes for the presidential nominees.
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