Democrats await Ohio, Texas verdicts

By Scott Helman and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The pitched battle between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for Ohio and Texas is going down to the wire tonight after polls closed in both states, with each candidate anxiously awaiting the results that could determine the course of their historic contest for the nomination.

Obama picked up his 12th straight win by handily beating Clinton in the Vermont primary, while Clinton held on in Rhode Island to win that state's primary, finally bringing Obama's streak to an end. But all eyes tonight are on the excruciatingly close races in Ohio and Texas, two delegate-rich states that promised to either revive Clinton's flagging campaign, solidify Obama's grip on the nomination, or produce a muddled result.

Amid the uncertainty in the Democratic race, the Republicans finally removed any doubt about who their nominee will be: Senator John McCain of Arizona, a 71-year-old war hero and long-time Washington fixture, officially sealed the GOP nomination by handily beating former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in all four states.

Early exit polls showed Obama swamping Clinton among African-American voters in Texas but Clinton leading 2-1 among Latinos, trends that have played out in other states. Two-thirds of the delegates in Texas will be awarded based on the results of the primary; the other third are allocated based on the results of caucuses that Texas Democrats held after the polls closed.

In Ohio, where the two candidates have tangled over trade and the right prescriptions for the mortgage crisis, 61 percent of voters surveyed said the economy was the most important issue -- the highest percentage of any of the 25 states where exit polls have been conducted for the TV networks and the Associated Press. Eight in 10 Ohio voters also said international trade takes more jobs from the state than it creates.

The Ohio exit polls also suggested a deep racial divide: White voters chose Clinton 61 percent to 38 percent, while black voters went for Obama 89 percent to 11 percent. Clinton also fared better among lower-income voters and voters who belong to union households -- despite Obama's string of endorsements from powerful labor groups.

There were scattered instances of voting issues in both states. Ballot shortages and bad weather in Ohio forced election officials to extend voting hours in some precincts there. And in Texas, Clinton operatives accused Obama supporters of improperly seizing control over several caucus locations.

Obama and Clinton entered today's contests with distinctly different objectives. Obama, having built an overall delegate lead of more than 100, was looking for a knockout punch, hoping a win in Ohio or Texas might force Clinton to pull out of the race.

Clinton, who for weeks has counted on Texas and Ohio to get back into contention, was looking for a comeback in a fierce nomination battle that has already raged through 40 states, awarded more than 2,600 delegates, and gone through two full months of voting.

Now, the race moves to Wyoming, which holds caucuses Saturday, and Mississippi, which holds a primary Tuesday. The Clinton campaign is already downplaying its prospects in the two states, and instead pointing toward Pennsylvania, which holds a primary April 22 and is the biggest state still to vote.

A total of 611 pledged delegates -- those won from caucuses or primaries -- are still to be divvied up before the national convention in late August. By any measure, Clinton needs to win the remaining contests by dauntingly large margins to catch Obama in the race for pledged delegates, which his campaign asserts should determine the nominee. Obama is also closing the gap with Clinton among superdelegates, the 796 elected officials, party leaders, and others who could hold the balance of power since neither is expected to reach the 2,025 needed without them.

Today's contests capped a frenzied, and at times bitter, two weeks of campaigning by the two Democrats, who have traded pointed attacks on the stump, in TV ads, at debates, and through campaign literature. Clinton has sought to portray Obama as untrustworthy on national security and trade, while Obama sharpened his criticism of Clinton's judgment and candor.

Before the polls closed, Obama and Clinton, knowing that the interpretation of today's results would be paramount, each sought to frame the race to their advantage.

Clinton, buoyed by what she believes have been successful attacks on Obama's national security credentials, told reporters that her campaign was "just really hitting its stride," and she dismissed the notion that she would need to drop out of the race if she lost either Ohio or Texas.

"We're going to go through this today and see how we do," she said, asserting that today's votes were merely a chapter in a "long process" of vying for the nomination.

Obama, speaking to reporters aboard his campaign plane on the way from Houston to San Antonio, expressed cautious optimism about his lead in the race and he said he was looking ahead to Wyoming, Mississippi, and beyond.

"What my head tells me is that we've got a very sizable delegate lead and it's going to be hard to overcome," he said. "But look, she is a tenacious and determined candidate, so we're just going to make sure we work as hard as we can for as long as it takes."

Obama charged that Clinton had run a "pretty negative campaign over the last couple weeks," but he said it was a healthy experience for him and his campaign, and he downplayed concerns among some Democrats that a prolonged primary battle will only benefit McCain.

"There's going to be such a sharp contrast with John McCain," Obama said, that Democrats will unite behind whoever wins.