Obama, Clinton Still Close After Super Tuesday

Early Super Tuesday results suggested the largest single day vote in presidential primary history might not decide very much at all. Sen. John McCain surged past former Gov. Mitt Romney, considered his chief rival for the GOP nomination, in several East Coast states, but former Gov. Mike Huckabee showed solid support from conservatives and evangelicals with a string of victories across the South.

In the Democratic race, senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each racked up significant victories, a strong indication their pitched battle for the nomination will continue. Clinton came out on top in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Oklahoma. She carried her adopted home state of New York, as well as Arkansas, where her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was governor. Obama was victorious in Connecticut, Alabama, Georgia, Delaware, Idaho and Minnesota. He bested Clinton in Illinois, the state that voted him to the Senate, and Kansas, the home state of his maternal grandparents.

McCain scored wins in the delegate-rich seaboard states of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York as well as Illinois and Oklahoma. Romney won in Massachusetts, where he was governor, and Utah, where he garnered the support of fellow Mormons. He also racked up wins in North Dakota and Minnesota. Many had predicted Super Tuesday would mark the end of Huckabee’s campaign, but the Baptist minister captured Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia. He also won Arkansas, where he previously served as governor. Speaking in his home state of Arizona, McCain congratulated both Romney and Huckabee for their victories, but told cheering supporters, “I think we must get used to the idea that we are the frontrunner for the Republican party nominee.”