February 14, 2008	Thursday	Safar 06, 1429

WASHINGTON, Feb 13: Senator Barack Obama superseded Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the race for delegates, registering his 8th victory in as many days.

In Tuesday’s primaries he achieved convincing victories in the states of Virginia and Maryland and in the US capital.

Mr Obama now has 1,181 delegates against Senator Clinton’s 1,173. A Democratic candidate needs 2,025 delegates to win nomination for the Nov 4 presidential election.

In the Republican camp, Vietnam veteran Senator John McCain has emerged as the indisputable frontrunner for the party nomination after winning in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC.

He has a total of 783 delegates against 217 of his nearest opponent, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

A Republican needs 1,191 delegates to win the nomination. Since no other candidate comes near him, Mr McCain’s nomination is almost certain. “Today, the change we seek swept through ... Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. This movement won’t stop until there’s change in Washington,” Senator Obama told supporters at a rally after his latest victory.

Senator Clinton’s defeat in the Virginia primary crushed what may have been her best chance at a Potomac primary win.

She had hoped to perform strongly in Virginia’s rural communities and among women and the state’s sizeable Hispanic and immigrant population, but Mr Obama ultimately prevailed in the state.

Mrs Clinton’s supporters acknowledge that her defeat in the Potomac region is particularly hurting. She lived in Washington for eight years and was a local figure as first lady. Mr Obama is a freshman senator from Illinois and is new in Washington.

Ignoring her losses and her Democratic rival, Mrs Clinton addressed a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas — one of the states she is focusing her campaign on winning on March 4.

“I need you to stand up for me because if we stand up together, if we work together, if we fight together, we will take back America and we will make history together,” Mrs Clinton said.

Jolted by eight failures in a row, Mrs Clinton last week sacked her campaign manager Patty Solis Doyle and her deputy campaign manager, Mike Henry, resigned.

Her new campaign managers acknowledge that Mrs Clinton may also lose Wisconsin and Hawaii next week. She must win the big primaries in Ohio and Texas on March 4, and the next in Pennsylvania on April 22 to snatch the initiative away from Mr Obama.

While the African-American community is playing a key role in Mr Obama’s campaign, he is also attracting a large number of White voters. Exit polls show that White men prefer Mr Obama to Mrs Clinton. In California, 51 per cent White men voted for Mr Obama and 39 per cent for Mrs Clinton. In South Carolina, 55 per cent of men voted for Mr Obama, with only 23 per cent going for Mrs Clinton. Others voted for John Edwards who is now out of the race.

In the Potomac primaries, which include Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC, Mr Obama also won majorities of women, sizable numbers of blue-collar votes and captured nearly half the votes of all whites. As he has in earlier contests, Mr Obama also held formidable margins among affluent, educated voters.