Is it clinton, or is it obama?

 

 

It is an irony that while both Democrat presidential aspirants—Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton—talk of bipartisan policies as well as uniting the fractured nation, their campaign seems to have divided the nation through all possible classifications—gender, race, religion and class. And this is evident from the results of primaries and caucuses held on “Super Tuesday” and the following weekend. Republicans—who are accused of fracturing the nation—are giving clear tidings in favour of their candidates and are showing some sort of solidarity that might rescue the doomed party.

The Democrats didn’t have one clear winner; their results gave both their candidates reason to claim victory. Senator Barack Obama won a majority of the states (13), but Senator Hillary Clinton won bigger states (8) and the delegate count was very close. Later, Obama also won Washington, Louisiana, Nebraska and Maine over the weekend.

Nevertheless, he will face tough competition in Texas, next month. Clinton’s battle with Obama for the nomination is far from over. Latino voters showed up in force for Clinton, while Obama’s strength among African Americans and whites allowed him to post decisive victories in the South. It takes 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination and Clinton is barely a third of the way to that total, with Obama in striking distance. “Super Tuesday confirmed that we have two very credible Democratic candidates who are going to spend a lot of money beating each other up,” said Jack Pitney, an expert on the party nomination process from Claremont College of governance while talking to TSI.

Meanwhile, Senator John McCain savoured a hard-fought victory this week for the Republican race. The Vietnam War veteran won more than twice as many delegates as his competitors in the Super Tuesday Republican primaries and caucuses. Mitt Romney, the Mormon tycoon, was left high and dry and opted out of the race. In the scenario, he has more chances of benefiting from the consolidation than Mike Huckabee –Evangelical priest.

But it has not come as a disclosure as poll’s history suggests they are a party that likes to rally quickly around an acknowledged front-runner. The Democrats are in exactly the opposite position, with a two-candidate race that looks essentially tied. Only one thing forces a campaign like that to end -- running out of money. Interestingly, Barack Obama’s fundraising surged to $32 million last month. And Hilary Clinton brought in $13.5 million.

The race is now split wide open.