WASHINGTON, Feb 10: Barrack Obama, a freshman senator from Illinois, gave another major jolt to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, winning three states in a row.

On Saturday, the Democrats voted for 161 delegates. Mr Obama won 72, while the senator from New York won 40.

“The stakes are too high and the challenges are too great to play the same old Washington game with the same old Washington players and expect a different result,” Mr Obama told his supporters after the victory. “People want to turn the page. They want to write a new chapter in American history.”

Mrs Clinton, however, was unfazed by the upsets. “If I’m your nominee, you will never have to worry that I will be knocked out of the ring because I do have the strength and experience to lead this country,” she said. “And I am ready to go toe-to-toe with (presumptive Republican nominee) Senator McCain whenever and wherever he desires.”

Mr Obama’s victories in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington states and in the Virgin Islands gave him a total of 1,070 delegates. Although Mrs Clinton is still ahead with 1,095 delegates, the gap is closing rapidly. On Sunday, the two compete in caucuses in Maine, where 24 delegates are at stake. On Tuesday, they fight for 15 pledged delegates in Washington, D.C., 70 in Maryland and 83 in Virginia.

Maryland and Washington, DC have large Africa-American communities. Hence, Mr Obama already has an advantage over Mrs Clinton in these two places.

A Democratic candidate has to have 2,025 delegates out of a total of 4,049 to win the nomination. Most political analysts believe that the Democratic race will continue till June when the last primaries are held. Some interesting statistics collected from the primaries show that winning the primaries does not necessarily assure a victory on Nov 4, when America elects its president.

Almost five out of 10 voters in the Democratic primaries are African-Americans but in the Republican Party 9 out of 10 voters are Whites. Even among the Democrats, 9 out of 10 Whites who said race is an issue for them voted for Mrs Clinton. Similarly, 9 out of 10 Blacks who said race is an issue voted for Mr Obama.

The United States is still predominantly White, almost 70 per cent. The Blacks are only 12.4 per cent of the total population. They are no longer even the largest minority group as the US now has more Latinos (12.5 per cent) than African-Americans. Most Latinos have voted for Mrs Clinton in the primaries.

A long association with the Democratic Party gives African-Americans a dominant position in the primaries but they do not enjoy the same influence in general elections.