By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama scored his fourth victory in a row over rival Hillary Clinton with a win in the Maine caucuses to build momentum ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Potomac primaries.
Sunday’s victory helped Obama, who wants to be America’s first black president, grab at least 13 of the state’s 24 delegates to come within breathing distance of former first lady Clinton who is bidding to be the nation’s first woman chief executive.
In the overall race for the nomination, Clinton who got at least eight in Maine, still leads with 1,135 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as super delegates. The winner needs 2,026 of 4,050 delegates from 50 states who would pick up the party nominee at its national convention in August.
Maine’s Democrats overlooked the snowy weather to turn out in what party executive director Arden Manning called “incredible” numbers for gatherings in various towns to select their delegates.
Obama’s victory in Maine a day after he picked up wins in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington gave him a big boost ahead of Tuesday’s Potomac primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, where 242 delegates are at stake.
Sparring over who would make the stronger opponent against John McCain, the presumptive Republican party nominee, Obama Sunday called Clinton a “vast improvement” on incumbent president George Bush.
But he told a rally in Alexandria, Virginia, that it was difficult for Clinton “to break out of the politics of the past 15 years”. He pledged to form a “working majority” with independents and Republicans both to win the White House and break the partisan divide that has left Washington in gridlock.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, campaigning in Manassas, Virginia, said that if elected, she, like Harry Truman, could handle the pressures that the next occupant of the Oval Office will inherit from Bush.
“I had a historian tell me the other day that it’s probably not been since Harry Truman that we had a president who inherits two wars, an economy in trouble, millions of people losing their healthcare, millions of families on the brink of losing their homes,” she said.
Calling the presidency “the hardest job in the world”, Clinton said she is best suited to confront McCain because of her experience in foreign policy. “Republicans will do everything in their power to make this election about national security and homeland security,” she said.
The two rivals continued their disagreement Sunday night on CBS’s “60 Minutes” over who would make the more formidable general election candidate.
According to excerpts released by the network, Clinton told the network’s Katie Couric that she’s the best candidate for president because she has already endured the kinds of negative ads Republicans are sure to throw at a Democratic nominee, while Obama has not.
“Senator Obama has never had, I don’t think, a single negative ad ever run against him,” Clinton said. “Until you’ve been through this experience, you have no idea what it is like and he hasn’t been. He’s never had to face this. I am much better prepared and ready to withstand whatever comes my way.”
Obama said in a separate interview that running for the Democratic nomination against the “Clinton machine” has hardened him for the battle ahead.
“Going up against the Clinton machine is no cakewalk,” he told interviewer Steve Kroft. Noting that Clinton disparages him for a supposed inability to withstand “the withering scrutiny”, Obama said of the Clintons: “They’re pretty serious about winning, too. They can play rough and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Meanwhile, after four big defeats and the prospect of three more losses in Tuesday’s primaries, Hillary Clinton replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with Maggie Williams, who served as her chief of staff when husband Bill Clinton was the president.
Williams was brought in as a senior campaign adviser after Clinton’s third-place finish in the Jan 3 Iowa caucus. Clinton has since changed her message, focussed more on the economy and targeted her speeches more directly to the working class, which makes up a large part of her supporters.
The latest primary results also highlight a shift in the Clinton campaign strategy. Faced with an unexpectedly well-funded, well-organized foe, she is now focussing mainly on the biggest, most delegate-rich states.
As Obama continues to gain momentum while picking up delegates in small and midsize states that hold February contests, the Clinton campaign has set its sights squarely on Ohio and Texas, which vote on March 4 and offer 161 and 228 delegates, respectively.
In Texas, the large Latino population could give Clinton an edge. Exit polls from 16 states that voted on Super Tuesday show that 65 percent of Hispanics voted for Clinton, compared with 35 percent for Obama.
To help pay for the media blitz in larger states, Clinton sent out a plea to donors last week to help her catch up with Obama’s fund-raising efforts. Since Super Tuesday, the Clinton campaign has raised over $10 million from 100,000 donors.
The influx of cash comes after Obama raised $32 million in January, compared with $13.5 million for Clinton.