WASHINGTON (AFP) — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama dug in for a protracted slog for the Democratic White House nomination after battling to a brutal draw in their coast-to-coast Super Tuesday showdown.
John McCain meanwhile strode closer to the top of the Republican ticket, as main rival Mitt Romney failed to halt his charge, and Mike Huckabee picked up the slack with surprise wins in the conservative deep south.
Clinton, 60, won the three biggest prizes, California, her home state of New York and Massachusetts, by handy margins, checking an Obama surge by capturing eight states, and keeping alive her quest to be the first woman president.
Senator Obama won more states, 13, including his own patch of Illinois, battlegrounds Connecticut and Missouri, and Georgia by a landslide. New Mexico was still too close to call.
The rivals geared up for a grinding war of attrition in subsequent contests over the next two months, over delegates doled out by states on a proportional basis, who will eventually anoint the nominee at August's party convention.
A Real Clear Politics running count had Clinton on 829 delegates, more than a third of the 2,025 she needs to capture the nomination. Obama was close behind with 750.
On the Republican side, McCain stood at 560 delegates, Romney had 226 and Huckabee was on 154, according to the tally. Republicans need 1,191 to capture their nomination.
For Clinton, the win in Massachusetts was especially sweet, after its heavyweight Democratic senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry backed Obama, sparking a publicity blitz.
"I look forward to continuing our campaign and our debate -- about how to leave this country better off for the next generation, because that is the work of my life," Clinton told a "victory" rally in New York.
Her top strategist, Mark Penn added: "the race will drag on for weeks longer; this is not going to be decided any time in the near future."
Obama however laid claim to the momentum in the knife-edge Democratic race.
"Our time has come. Our movement is real. And change is coming to America," he told his rally in Chicago.
"What began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be deterred."
Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said the senator was in a "strong position to win the Democratic nomination," and eyed contests next week in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC.
Exit polls suggested Obama had kept his grip on African-American voters, and improved his share among whites. Clinton's bulwark of Hispanic and older women voters also held firm.
McCain, 71, went into the night trying to take a stranglehold on the Republican nomination, and picked up wins in nine states, including California, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware and New Jersey.
"We should now get used to the idea that we are now the Republican party front-runner for the nomination ... and I don't really mind it one bit," McCain told cheering supporters in Arizona.
His drive to the verge of the nomination is all the more remarkable given that his campaign was widely written off last year, following a cash crunch and plumeting poll numbers.
Ordained Baptist pastor Huckabee snatched victories in five southern states, while Romney won seven states, but failed to capture his top target California as he tried to ignite a conservative backlash against his rival.
A campaign aide said the Romney camp would have "frank discussions" about the future on Wednesday, NBC reported.
Huckabee put himself forward as the main alternative to McCain.
"Over the past few days a lot of people have been trying to say that this is a two-man race -- well, you know what? It is, and we're in it!" Huckabee said at his campaign headquarters in Arkansas.
Clinton went into the clash after pocketing wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, while Obama took the leadoff Iowa caucuses and thumped her in the South Carolina primary.
States won by Clinton on Super Tuesday: California, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Arizona.
Obama racked up Georgia, Illinois, Delaware, Alabama, North Dakota, Utah, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado, Idaho, Alaska and Missouri.
McCain celebrated wins in Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Oklahoma, Arizona, California and Missouri.
Romney picked up Massachusetts, Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota, Colorado, Montana and Alaska, while Huckabee scored in Arkansas, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
