By IRNA
New York : Senator Barack Obama beat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in caucuses Saturday.
The victory gave a psychological lift to a campaign that had had an uncharacteristically difficult week.
Obama bested Clinton in Wyoming with 61 percent of the vote to her 38 percent, giving him seven delegates and her five.
With Clinton’s resurgence last week — thanks to wins in the Ohio and Texas primaries — the fight for every delegate has become intense, making Wyoming a player for the first time in years.
The fight now moves to Mississippi, which holds its primary Tuesday, and delegate-rich Pennsylvania, which holds its primary April 22.
Given the heightened acrimony between the two campaigns, that seems like a lifetime away.
IRNA reporter in New York said that Obama, with 1,578 delegates, is roughly 100 ahead of Clinton.
To become the party’s nominee, a candidate needs 2,025 delegates.
Nearly 500 remain to be awarded in the nine states and two territories with upcoming contests, and a little more than 100 superdelegates remain uncommitted.
Obama campaign strategist David Plouffe described Wyoming as “a big win for us” in a conference call with reporters Saturday afternoon.
The Obama campaign took repeated knocks last week from the Clinton campaign and in the losses to her in the Ohio and Texas primaries.
Both candidates barnstormed in Wyoming last week, as did former President Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea.
“War for Wyoming,” screamed a banner headline on Saturday’s front page of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The visits put an unaccustomed spotlight on the state’s Democrats, who constitute little more than a quarter of registered voters and feel a little lonely at times.
Clinton’s campaign manager, Maggie Williams, downplayed the Wyoming loss.
“We are thrilled with this near split in delegates and are grateful to the people of Wyoming for their support,” she said in a statement Saturday.
“Although the Obama campaign predicted victory in Wyoming weeks ago, we worked hard to present Sen. Clinton’s vision to the caucus goers and we thank them for turning out today.”
At a Cheyenne rally Friday, Hillary Clinton said she had “an uphill climb here, because it’s a caucus.”
Bill Clinton, who has reined in his rhetoric, has again become an effective campaigner for his wife.
State party officials said his visit Thursday paid off Rock Springs in Sweetwater County, where the former president held a rally, gave Hillary Clinton her largest victory, 57% of its vote.