Obama, McCain Carry the Potomac Primaries
February 13, 2008
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain have each won their respective party’s primaries in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. For McCain the wins signal that he’s still the favored front-runner after losing Louisiana and Kansas to Mike Huckabee over the weekend. For Obama, however, the wins are part of a string of victories he’s been accumulating, and have finally allowed him to take the lead in the crucial delegate count.
In Virginia McCain beat Huckabee by nine points, 50% to 41%, and Obama beat Clinton by twenty-nine points, 64% to 35% (with 100% of precincts reporting).
Maryland’s numbers were farther apart for the Republican contenders, with McCain winning the state by more than 20 points. The numbers for the Democrats were similar to those in Virginia; Obama beat Clinton 61% to 35%.
In D.C. the margins were even wider: McCain beat Huckabee 4 to 1 and Obama beat Clinton 3 to 1 (Fox).
Senator McCain’s victories have helped him secure a more commanding lead over his chief competitor, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. The delegate count for the Republicans now stands at McCain 789, Huckabee 241. However, Mr. Huckabee has shown no indication that he intends to withdraw from the race: “On one hand, you have the pundits saying that I’m really not a factor and on the other hand, boy, I’m gonna make it really hard for John McCain.”
On the Democratic side, Senator Obama has finally pulled ahead of Senator Clinton in the delegate count, albeit slightly, 1212 to 1119. Senator Clinton has already moved on from the Potomac Primary and is currently campaigning in Texas, which will hold its primary on March 4 along with Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
