WASHINGTON, Feb 6: Vietnam veteran Senator John McCain emerged from Super Tuesday’s balloting as the indisputable frontrunner for the Republican nomination, while Democrats split their votes between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a new but charismatic figure on the US political scene.
Although Mr Obama has not yet won the Democratic presidential nomination, he has run hard and fast with a baggage that would have forced a weaker soul to quit in the initial stages. Even a cursory glance at his handicaps shows how enormous were the hurdles he had to cross to reach where he is now.
Mr Obama is an African-American in a White-dominated society. He has a Muslim name — Barack Hussein Obama — and is the son of a Muslim African immigrant. His stepfather, an Indonesian, was also a Muslim. He lived in Indonesia, a Muslim-dominated state.
And Mr Obama’s opponents used all these, and much more, to bring him down as soon as he announced that he would seek nomination for the 2008 presidential election.
His Muslim heritage was considered particularly vulnerable at a time when many in the United States suffer from an acute ‘Islamophobia’.
It was pointed out that while in Indonesia, he regularly said Friday prayers with other students of his school; that his step sisters were still Muslims and that he attended their weddings and stayed in touch with his extended Muslim family.
Although a Christian, Mr Obama never hid his Muslim background and discussed his Muslim links in his books and also in his speeches. He also spoke of calling a meeting of all Islamic nations to discuss the dispute that divided the Islamic and Western worlds, if elected.
And the results of Super Tuesday primaries show that American voters are more concerned with real issues — a dismal economy, an un-winnable war in Iraq, immigration and environment — than what the fear-mongers tried to sell to them.
Despite such major odds, Mr Obama came close to upstaging New York Senator Hillary Clinton, until recently considered a favourite to win the Democratic nomination.
She is not only more experienced, as wife of a twice-elected and popular president and as a senator with international exposure, but also ran a vicious campaign, sometimes labelling Mr Obama and his supporters as dreamers.
But results show that Mr Obama is not just a dreamer but also a doer. Now Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama will have to continue their fierce contest for delegates into key primary battles that follow Super Tuesday.
Mrs Clinton won 582 delegates and eight states while Mr Obama won 562 delegates but captured 13 states, including some in the South where racial feelings still run deep. Mrs Clinton, however, seized large states, such as California and New York, which gave her more delegates than Obama.
A Democratic candidate needs 2,025 out of a total of 4,049 delegates to claim the nomination at this summer’s convention in Denver, Colorado.
They still have 917 delegates to win, which leaves the Democratic race wide open.
The Democrats now turn their attention to the Louisiana primary and Nebraska and Washington caucuses on Saturday, the Maine caucuses on Sunday and the so-called Potomac primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia on Tuesday.
The candidates will also have to campaign for the Feb 19 primary in Wisconsin and the March 4 votes in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont and on April 22 in Pennsylvania.
In the Republican camp, Arizona Senator John McCain won 511 delegates and captured 9 states. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney earned 176 delegates and seven states while former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has 147 delegates and five states.
A Republican candidate needs 1,191 delegates from a total of 2,380 to win, while the contest is still open for 237 delegates.
The Republicans now turn their attention to the Louisiana primary and Kansas caucuses on Saturday and the primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia next Tuesday.
The Arizona senator has more than a 300-delegate lead over his nearest rival, Mr Romney. US political analysts, while appearing on various television talk shows, predicted that Mr McCain has practically won the Republican nomination as it is no more possible for either Mr Huckabee or Mr Romney to catch up.
Super Tuesday, however, settled little in the Democratic race. When the polls opened, Senators Clinton and Obama were neck and neck and at the end of the day they remained so.
While Republicans have already started talking about picking a running mate — a vice presidential candidate — for Mr McCain, the Democrats are still rattling their sabres at each other.
Political analysts warn that another vicious competition between Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama may harm the Democratic bid to win the White House.
While Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama still focus on beating each other, the Republicans may take their campaign to the next stage by announcing a panel and by shifting their focus to the Nov 4 presidential election.
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