US elections 2008
Obama and McCain score triple victories
By FT Reporters

Barack Obama venceu facilmente tres mais tres estados (Virginia, Maryland e a capital dos EUA, Washington D.C), somando desta forma oito vitorias consecutivas sobre a sua mais directa rival, Hilar Rhodam Clinton. Pela primeira vez, Obama conseguiu superar o numero de delegados da sua rival! Nesta ultima vitoria Barack conseguiu superar Hilary no voto das mulheres em 60-40. Apercebendo-se da aproximacao de mais uma tempestade, Hilary Clinton dispensou o seu gestor de campanha no Domingo, substituindo-o pela sua ex-chefe do staff na Casa Branca.

Barack parece imparavel na sua corrida a nomeacao pelo partido democrata! Para mais pormenores viajemos na companhia do Financial Times:

Barack Obama on Tuesday night easily won all three Potomac primaries, bringing his eighth consecutive win over Hillary Clinton since Super Tuesday and adding to the mounting view that the Democratic presidential nomination could be slipping away from her.

Mr Obama’s decisive victories in Virginia, Maryland and Washington were delivered with overwhelming support from almost all demographic groups. Women broke almost 60-40 in Mr Obama’s favour.

Mr Obama won all three primaries by wide margins. In Virginia, he garnered 63 per cent of the vote compared to Mrs Clinton’s 36 per cent. In Maryland, he beat the New York senator 63-34 per cent and in the District of Columbia by 76-24 per cent.

”The change we seek swept through Chesapeake and over the Potomac,” the Illinois senator told supporters at a victory rally on Tuesday night. ”We won the state of Maryland. We won the commonwealth of Virginia. And though we won in Washington DC, this movement won’t stop until there is change in Washington DC, and tonight we’re on our way.”

For the first time, Mr Obama took the lead over Mrs Clinton in delegates. According to CNN estimates, Mr Obama now has 1,195 pledged delegates. Mrs Clinton has 1,178.

Mrs Clinton’s string of defeats heightens the pressure on her to hold up her core demographic support – or “firewalls” – among Latinos and white working class voters in the Texas and Ohio primaries in three weeks’ time.

Next Tuesday Mrs Clinton faces what most forecasts suggest is likely defeat in Wisconsin and Hawaii – Mr Obama’s birthplace.

Mrs Clinton was holding a rally in Texas as Tuesday night’s results came in, highlighting the critical importance of the Lone Star state to her hopes of a rebound.

”I’m tested, I’m ready, let’s make it happen,” she yelled to cheering supporters, avoiding any mention of her defeats in the Potomac contests.

In the Republican race, Mr McCain won by wide margins in Maryland and the District of Columbia but faced a strong challenge from Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, in Virginia, eventually prevailing by 50-41 per cent.

Although Mr McCain still needs about 300 more delegates to seal the nomination, Tuesday night’s results make that a virtual formality.

In his victory speech on Tuesday night, the senator shifted focus to his next challenge: beating Mr Obama or Mrs Clinton in November.

“We do not yet know for certain who will have the honour of being the Democratic Party’s nominee for president,” he said. “But we know where either of their candidates will lead this country, and we dare not let them.”

Mr McCain has been the presumptive nominee since opening an almost insurmountable lead in the Republican race after last week’s Super Tuesday contests, prompting Mitt Romney, his closest challenger, to drop out.

His coronation was delayed by defeats to Mr Huckabee in Kansas and Louisiana at the weekend. A loss in Virginia would have been a serious embarrassment. Instead, he won by 9 percentage points in the state and by a wider margin in Maryland and Washington.

Mr Huckabee has vowed to keep the race alive until the nomination is mathematically out of reach – a threshold that could take several more weeks to reach.

The McCain campaign said the senator welcomed the spirited and good-natured competition from Mr Huckabee but made clear his focus would now turn to the general election in November.

Despite Tuesday’s defeats, Mr Huckabee vowed to remain in the race until it was mathematically impossible for him to win. ”The nomination is not secured until somebody has 1,191 delegates,” he said. ”That has not yet happened. We’re still continuing to work and to give voters in these states a choice.”




Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008