Obama wins Mississippi primary as expected

JACKSON – Barack Obama rode a wave of support from black voters to win a racially polarised primary in Mississippi as he rebounded from recent losses to Hillary Rodham Clinton with his second straight victory in their heated battle for the Democratic presidential nomination.

After a steady stream of contests since early January, the campaign now enters a relative lull with a six-week gap until the next contest in Pennsylvania on April 22, when 158 nominating convention delegates will be at stake. Even as Mississippi Democrats cast their ballots on Tuesday, both Obama and Clinton were already campaigning in Pennsylvania.But with only 10 contests remaining – in eight states plus Guam and Puerto Rico which offer fewer than 600 delegates in all – it is all but impossible for Clinton to overtake Obama’s lead in elected delegates.Obama was winning roughly 90 per cent of the black vote in Mississippi, but only about one-quarter of the white vote, extending a pattern that carried the Illinois senator to victory in earlier southern state primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.His triumph was widely expected, and seemed destined to do nothing to shorten a Democratic marathon expected to last at least six more weeks – and possibly far longer – while Republicans and their nominee-in-waiting, John McCain, turn their attention to the fall campaign.”Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country,” Maggie Williams, Clinton’s campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his victory.”I’m confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified,” Obama said as he savoured his victory.But in a race growing more contentious, he took a swipe at the way his rival’s campaign has conducted itself.”We’ve been very measured in terms of how we talk about Senator Clinton,” he said.”I’ve been careful to say that I think Senator Clinton is a capable person and that should she win the nomination, obviously, I would support her.I’m not sure we’ve been getting that same approach from the Clinton campaign,” he said on CNN.Returns from 99 per cent of Mississippi’s precincts showed Obama gaining 61 percent, to 37 per cent for Clinton.Republican Sen.John McCain, who has already won enough delegates to claim his party’s nomination, rolled up 79 per cent of the vote in Mississippi.The Arizona senator was in New York to attend an evening fundraiser.Obama picked up at least 17 of Mississippi’s 33 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, with five more to be awarded, to widen his overall lead in the all-important delegate count.The Illinois senator had 1 596 delegates to 1 484 for Clinton.It takes 2 025 to win the nomination at the party’s national convention this summer in Denver.Nampa-APEven as Mississippi Democrats cast their ballots on Tuesday, both Obama and Clinton were already campaigning in Pennsylvania.But with only 10 contests remaining – in eight states plus Guam and Puerto Rico which offer fewer than 600 delegates in all – it is all but impossible for Clinton to overtake Obama’s lead in elected delegates.Obama was winning roughly 90 per cent of the black vote in Mississippi, but only about one-quarter of the white vote, extending a pattern that carried the Illinois senator to victory in earlier southern state primaries in South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.His triumph was widely expected, and seemed destined to do nothing to shorten a Democratic marathon expected to last at least six more weeks – and possibly far longer – while Republicans and their nominee-in-waiting, John McCain, turn their attention to the fall campaign.”Now we look forward to campaigning in Pennsylvania and around the country,” Maggie Williams, Clinton’s campaign manager, said in a written statement that congratulated Obama on his victory.”I’m confident that once we get a nominee, the party is going to be unified,” Obama said as he savoured his victory.But in a race growing more contentious, he took a swipe at the way his rival’s campaign has conducted itself.”We’ve been very measured in terms of how we talk about Senator Clinton,” he said.”I’ve been careful to say that I think Senator Clinton is a capable person and that should she win the nomination, obviously, I would support her.I’m not sure we’ve been getting that same approach from the Clinton campaign,” he said on CNN.Returns from 99 per cent of Mississippi’s precincts showed Obama gaining 61 percent, to 37 per cent for Clinton.Republican Sen.John McCain, who has already won enough delegates to claim his party’s nomination, rolled up 79 per cent of the vote in Mississippi.The Arizona senator was in New York to attend an evening fundraiser.Obama picked up at least 17 of Mississippi’s 33 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, with five more to be awarded, to widen his overall lead in the all-important delegate count.The Illinois senator had 1 596 delegates to 1 484 for Clinton.It takes 2 025 to win the nomination at the party’s national convention this summer in Denver.Nampa-AP