Game on, again, in Democratic race

By Scott Helman and Susan Milligan, Globe Staff

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Senator Hillary Clinton breathed new life into her presidential bid tonight by claiming a key victory in the Ohio Democratic primary, ending Barack Obama's month-long run of momentum and adding yet another twist to the historic contest for the nomination.

Clinton's win in Ohio as well as in Rhode Island brought her campaign back from the brink: She had not won a contest since Super Tuesday, and was facing increasing pressure to consider dropping out of the race. Tonight she told relieved, raucous supporters in Columbus, Ohio, that the victories proved that voters wanted the contest to go on.

"The people of Ohio have said it loudly and clearly," she said. "We're going on, we're going strong, and we're going all the way."

"Yes she will!" her backers chanted jubilantly.

"For everyone across the country and in Ohio who has been counted out, but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who stumbled but who stood right back up, for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one's for you," Clinton said.

The other closely watched contest tonight, a primary and caucus in Texas, remained unresolved as the battle between Clinton and Obama went down to the wire. Obama, meanwhile, picked up another win, too, handily beating Clinton in the Vermont primary.

Clinton's triumph in Ohio -- she led 57 percent to 41 percent with nearly two-thirds of precincts reporting -- alters the dynamics of a race in which Obama had won 11 straight contests. But it was not immediately apparent what her victory will mean for deciding an eventual nominee.

Her campaign a couple weeks ago predicted it would be ahead in the delegate race by this morning, a goal it has not come close to reaching. What seemed evident last night, given the close contests and the way Democrats allocate delegates proportionally was that the results would not significantly change Obama's current overall delegate lead of more than 100.

"No matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning," Obama told supporters in San Antonio tonight. "And we are on our way to winning this nomination."

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 governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas in all four states.

Obama and Clinton entered today’s contests with distinctly different objectives. Obama 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 put her 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 because neither is expected to reach the 2,025 needed without them.

In Ohio, where the two candidates tangled over trade and the right prescriptions for the mortgage crisis, 61 percent of voters surveyed in exit polls 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.

Obama seemed to close the gap with Clinton in the Buckeye State over the past two weeks, but in the end it was not enough to overcome Clinton's continued strength with white working-class voters, her longtime base. She got a big boost from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, who helped her shore up votes in the rural, poor southeastern part of the state from where he hails.

Ohio exit polls also suggested a deep racial divide: White voters chose Clinton 65 percent to 33 percent, while black voters went for Obama 86 percent to 14 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.

In Texas, exit polls suggested that Obama was swamping Clinton among African-American voters, but that Clinton was leading 2 to 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 last night.

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. In Texas, there were widespread reports of confusion and disorganization as caucus sites were overwhelmed by huge turnout. Clinton operatives accused Obama supporters of improperly seizing control over several caucus locations.