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Clinton, Obama go vote-for-vote
09/02/2008 21:47 - (SA)
Seattle - Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama scrambled for every last vote on Saturday with little hope that a fresh round of primaries would break the deadlock in their tight White House race.
Four states were holding presidential primaries or caucuses for either the Democratic or Republican nomination in the first votes since the Super Tuesday contests ended in a stalemate for Clinton and Obama.
Caucuses in the far northwest state of Washington offered the biggest prize, 78 delegates to the party's national nominating convention, out of around 200 up for grabs on the weekend.
Both senators campaigned fiercely in Washington on Friday in their monumental battle to represent the Democratic Party in the November 4 presidential election, with Clinton promoting her universal health care plan and Obama pushing his message of change in his bid to be America's first black president.
With every state race crucial, early on Saturday both Clinton and Obama were pitching for votes across the country in Maine, the country's northeastern-most state, which holds its nominating caucuses on Sunday to decide 34 delegates.
By Saturday afternoon both were then to head to Virginia, which with neighboring Maryland and Washington DC hold primaries on Tuesday with another 200 delegates at stake.
The two rivals were scheduled to appear on Saturday night at the state Democratic Party's high-profile annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Richmond.
Clinton marginally ahead in delegate count
Polls for Saturday's first contests, the Republican and Democratic primaries in Louisiana, opened at 11:00 GMT.
Democratic caucuses in the midwestern state of Nebraska opened at 15:00 GMT, while Kansas opened its Republican caucuses at the same time. Washington's caucuses there were set to open at 21:00 GMT.
A tally by independent pollsters RealClearPolitics on Saturday put Clinton marginally ahead in the delegate count, with 1 076 to Obama's 1 006 - with a candidate needing to get 2 025, half the national total, to clinch the party's nod.
But in national voter surveys Obama surpassed Clinton's once-overwhelming lead for the first time.
The Newsweek poll out on Friday gave Obama 42% support compared to 41% for Clinton. Nevertheless, in the survey of 1 394 registered voters, a large 17% remained undecided, underscoring the need for both candidates to continue fighting for support, voter by voter.
Obama stood favoured to outperform Clinton in the Virginia-Washington DC-Maryland block, in part due to the high number of African-American voters.
"Barack is very blessed to have such great support in Virginia," said Steve Hildebrand, a senior advisor to Obama, adding that the campaign nevertheless was fighting "very hard".
"We are fighting like we are 10 points down, not 10 points ahead. We have seen some of these polls which have not proven to be a reality," Hildebrand said.
'We are not counting our chickens...'
"The delegate race right now is pretty much in a dead heat. We are excited by the possibility of being in the general election, but we are not counting our chickens before they hatch."
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine said he endorsed Obama because "he is a unifier in times of bitter division. He is an agent of change at a time when our nation needs change.
"I also endorsed him because he is practical and I think he can win. I think the results from (Super) Tuesday night show ... Barack is our electable candidate in November."
Republican Senator John McCain, virtually guaranteed his party's nomination after former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney quit the field, meanwhile enjoyed the tacit boost he got on Friday from President George W Bush.
Addressing a conference of fervent conservatives doubtful of McCain's own moderate political stances, Bush warned of the high stakes in the 2008 White House race and called on his party to rally around the eventual nominee.
Without naming McCain, who was his rival in the 2000 presidential election, Bush cast the election as a referendum on his own policies such as the Iraq war.
"Prosperity and peace are in the balance," Bush told supporters.
"So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let us go forward, fight for victory, and keep the White House in 2008," he added.
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