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HOUSTON, Texas: Barack Obama bids Tuesday to knock Hillary Clinton
out of the White House race after a mud-slinging campaign that
Democratic grandees fear is helping nobody but Republican heir John
McCain.
But heading into crunch battles in Ohio and
Texas, the former first lady is full of fire and has been
eviscerating her charismatic rival’s qualifications to be
commander in chief and chief steward of a troubled economy.
While the Democrats fight it out, McCain looks
set to lock up the Republican nomination by eliminating former
Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
Besides from Ohio and Texas, Rhode Island and
Vermont also hold presidential primaries on Tuesday.
The day’s voting will kick off in Vermont at
1000 GMT and end in Rhode Island at 0200 GMT Wednesday, although a
quirky electoral process in Texas will see caucuses start after the
Lone Star state’s day-long primary.
Clinton said Monday she was just getting warmed
up after the longest and costliest primary race in history.
“What we’re going to find out tomorrow is
what two really big states have to say, because after all it’s
still a very close contest in terms of the popular vote and the
number of delegates,” she told a television talk show late Monday.
Since the original Super Tuesday of February 5,
Obama has been on a roll with 11 nominating victories in a row, and
now enjoys a small but clear lead in the Democratic delegate count.
“If we do well in Texas and Ohio, I think the
math is such where it’s going to be hard for her to win the
nomination, and they’ll have to make a decision about how much
longer they want to pursue it,” Obama told ABC News.
Pressing home his financial advantage after a
banner month of fundraising in February, the Illinois senator aired
a two-minute ad in Texas that detailed his extraordinary life story
and highlighted his opposition to the Iraq war.
Obama leads in Texas by 46-45 percent in his
quest to be the first black president, according to polling by
McClatchy Newspapers, MSNBC television and the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram
But the Democratic voting is proportional,
meaning that Clinton would need landslide victories on Tuesday and
beyond just to pull even with Obama.
-- AFP
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