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Clinton, Obama turn to women for Saturday

09 February 2008 09:47 (UTC +04:00)

Republicans John McCain and Mike Huckabee hunted for delegates in three state contests Saturday, keeping a vigorous pace despite the sense that the Republican race is essentially over, with McCain firmly on the road to the nomination.
Clinton and Obama split wins during Tuesdayâ€™s series of nomination contests in 22 states, a deadlock that promised to transform this already historic race between a woman and a black man into a fight that will last until the partyâ€™s convention in August.
The two Democrats face four contests on Saturday, with the three most important ones â€” Washington state, Nebraska and Louisiana â€” offering a total of 161 delegates or about 10% of the total needed to win the partyâ€™s nomination. Of those three races, Washington and Nebraska are caucuses, contests that have served Obama well in the past.
Clinton and Obama both campaigned Thursday and Friday in the northwestern state of Washington, the richest weekend prize, with 78 delegates.
No state better illustrates the competition for women voters than Washington. The governor and both U.S. senators are Democratic women. Clinton scored first, winning the endorsements of Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, two women from different political backgrounds.
The former first lady has outpolled Obama among women so far, but Obama has fought hard, and Friday he had his own coup â€” the endorsement of Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire, only the second female governor of the state. Both candidates had courted her â€” Obama speaking with her four times.
"He is leading us toward a positive feeling of hope in our country and I love seeing that happen," Gregoire said.
Washingtonâ€™s senators, both women, back Clinton. Cantwell introduced the New York senator to a crowd in Spokane on Friday. "Hillary is here to listen, to answer questions and to make history, and Washington state is here to help her do that," Cantwell said.
At the Obama rally, Lisa Jones, 32, said she likes his fresh face and approach. "I feel about him the way I did about Bill Clinton in 1992," she said. "I like Hillary, but she doesnâ€™t make my heart skip like Obama."
The difference could be generational. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ran a front-page story Friday headlined: "Among women, contest is one for the ages." It described many Seattle-area Democratic women splitting largely along generational lines, with most older women backing Clinton, 60, and many younger ones opting for Obama, 46.
On the Republican side, McCain was seeking to heal divisions with his partyâ€™s right-wing base by casting himself as Americaâ€™s steadfast protector against terrorism.
He suggested Friday that a vote for Clinton or Obama would ultimately encourage terrorists.
"They want to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq that I believe would have catastrophic consequences," he said following a discussion on national security issues in the Navy town of Norfolk, Virginia.
"I believe al-Qaeda would trumpet to the world they defeated the United States of America, and I believe, therefore, they would try to follow us home. There would be catastrophic consequences in the region, and we would be back."
Without naming McCain, Republican President George W. Bush called for unity in a party that has splintered as his approval rating plummeted to a historic low of 30%, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll Friday.
"The stakes in November are high. This is an important election. Prosperity and peace are in the balance," Bush told about 2,000 people attending the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and an ordained Baptist minister, remains in the race with strong support from conservative Christians, largely in the southern "Bible Belt," but is far behind in the delegate hunt. Texas lawmaker Ron Paul has a small loyal following, but is far behind in polls.
Going into Saturday, Clinton had 1,055 delegates, to 998 for Obama, out of the 2,025 needed to secure victory at the party convention in August. Clintonâ€™s advantage is partly due to her lead among so-called superdelegates, members of Congress and other party leaders who are not selected in primaries and caucuses â€” and who are also free to change their minds.
Clinton and Obama both have an eye on the round that follows Saturdayâ€™s votes â€” the trio of races Tuesday in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. â€” and the New York senator in particular was gearing her campaign toward the high stakes primaries in Ohio and Texas on March 4. /APA/