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Obama wins in Mississippi
12/03/2008 07:12 - (SA)
Jackson - Barack Obama coasted to victory in Mississippi's Democratic primary, the latest in a string of racially polarised presidential contests across southern states and a final test before next month's high-stakes race with Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania.
Obama's victory in Mississippi on Tuesday followed his win in Saturday's caucuses in sparsely populated Wyoming, helping him rebound from losses to Clinton in three out of four primaries a week ago - including large state contests in Ohio and Texas - that revived her campaign.
Obama was winning roughly 90% of the black vote in Mississippi, but only about one-quarter of the white vote, extending a pattern that carried the Illinois senator to victory in earlier southern state primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.
Clinton campaign 'still confident'
His triumph was widely expected, and seemed destined to do nothing to shorten a Democratic marathon expected to last at least six more weeks - and possibly far longer - while Republicans and their nominee-in-waiting, John McCain, turn their attention to the fall campaign.
"Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country," Maggie Williams, Clinton's campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his victory.
"I'm confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified," Obama said as he noted his victory.
But in a race growing more contentious, he took a swipe at the way his rival's campaign has conducted itself.
Tight race
"We've been very measured in terms of how we talk about Senator Clinton," he said. "I've been careful to say that I think Senator Clinton is a capable person and that should she win the nomination, obviously, I would support her. I'm not sure we've been getting that same approach from the Clinton campaign," he said on CNN.
Returns from 92% of Mississippi's precincts showed Obama gaining 59%, to 39% for Clinton.
Obama picked up at least 17 of Mississippi's 33 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, with five more to be awarded, to widen his overall lead in the all-important delegate count.
The Illinois senator had 1 596 delegates to 1 484 for Clinton. It takes 2 025 to win the nomination at the party's national convention this summer in Denver.
Neither of the two rivals appears able to win enough delegates through primaries and caucuses to prevail in their historic race for the nomination, a development that has elevated the importance of nearly 800 elected officials and party leaders who will attend next summer's national convention as unelected superdelegates.
Obama leads Clinton among pledged delegates, 1 385-1 237 in The Associated Press count, while the former first lady has an advantage among superdelegates, 247-211.
There was little suspense about the Mississippi outcome, and both Clinton and Obama spent part of their day campaigning in Pennsylvania, which has 158 delegates at stake in a primary on April 22.
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