The Super Tuesday primaries were contentious between the two remaining Democratic candidates: Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Even with thousands of delegates at stake yesterday, no clear winner emerged to claim the party's nomination.
Obama won 13 states: Alaska, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Connecticut, Kansas, North Dakota, Alabama, Delaware, Missouri, Illinois, and Georgia. He had more than 70 percent of the popular vote in Alaska, Idaho, and Kansas.
Missouri was hotly contested and originally thought to have been won by Clinton. But when the last 10 percent of the votes were counted, Obama pulled ahead of Clinton and won the state with 49 percent of the vote.
In the general election, Missouri has accurately picked the president since 1956, so a win in the state was important to both candidates.
According to CNN exit polls, Obama was heavily favored throughout the nation by voters aged 18-24 and by blacks. In some areas, they favored him by nearly 40 percent over Hillary, unfortunately for Obama, they did not vote in large enough numbers.
Our time has come, our movement is real -- and change is coming to America... Sen. Barack Obama
Obama remained optimistic even after the results of the primary elections filtered through.
"Our time has come, our movement is real -- and change is coming to America," he said. "Yes we can. Lets get to work."
California, Arizona, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, Arizona, and Oklahoma voted for Clinton, although not by the same margins of the states that Obama won.
Clinton was slightly favored by voters over the age of 39 but benefited greatly from this demographic because nearly 70 percent of voters are in this age group.
Because the Democratic primaries assign delegates proportionally based on the popular vote state-by-state, the close margins in various states should keep both Obama and Clinton competitive for weeks to come.
In contrast, many Republican primary states assign delegates based on a winner-takes-all system, so winning by just a 1 percent margin in any given state means all of the state's delegates are assigned to the candidate.
Tennessee went to Hillary Clinton by a wide margin; her 54 percent topped Obama's 41.
The delegate count is estimated by CNN to slightly favor Clinton when all is said and done, but such a small margin leaves the primary open to either candidate leading to the remainder of the primaries, and ultimately to the Democratic convention.
Comments
John Smith commented, on February 6, 2008 at 5:34 a.m.:
"He had more than 70% of the popular vote in Alaska, Idaho, and Kansas."
"California, Arizona, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, Arizona, and Oklahoma voted for Clinton, although not by the same margins of the states that Obama won."
The structure and sentences in your writing really shows your bias. Of course 75% margin in Alaska, Idaho and Kansas seems large, but compare to the number of people who turned out to vote in those states was so minuscule. She won most of the big states.
So tired of all you jaded bias jounalists. I just can't seem to find anyone fair to read.
independent commented, on February 6, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.:
Oh come now, I doubt the author of this article is old enough to be jaded. Everyone has bias though. Yes, Hillary won the big ones & she is ahead - the article says so. I guess you wanted it in big letters stating OBAMA GO HOME. Watch out Tennesee Journalist all your keyboards might come up with the "O"s missing some morning if you know what I mean.
James Baird - Politics editor commented, on February 7, 2008 at 1:47 a.m.:
Jaded bias from journalists?
He just pointed out the facts. Some of the states that Obama won were by a much greater margin than the majority of states that Clinton won. Clinton didn't have any landslide victories, although she did pick up the big four states on Super Tuesday.
If you like reporting that leaves out facts, find another news site.
- JAB