WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton will talk about health care and argue that she's the candidate who can win the states that matter most this fall.
Barack Obama will stress his longstanding opposition to the Iraq war and maintain that he's got broader national appeal.
And they both can point to Super Tuesday's split decision as proof that they're right. Super Tuesday set up a duel between the two senators that now appears to have no obvious endpoint. Each is far from the 2,205 delegates needed for nomination, and until Texas and Ohio vote on March 4, no state has the potential to push either one way ahead. After that looms Pennsylvania on April 22.
But each camp Wednesday claimed victory, and maintained they held a slight lead in the delegate count. Clinton's forces said she won one more delegate than Obama Tuesday; Obama's campaign said he was up by 15. Overall, Clinton's lead was roughly 80 to 100 delegates.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, told reporters Wednesday that Clinton "failed miserably" this week because she wanted to effectively clinch the nomination on Super Tuesday but did not. Clinton's camp scoffed at such talk, and senior strategist Mark Penn predicted that "It is likely no side will gain an appreciate or significant advantage in delegate counts" for some time, but at the moment, "We're in the pole position."
The fight now spreads to different venues. Clinton and Obama will battle for the "superdelegates," party officials where Clinton has an edge, but Obama campaign manager David Plouffe claims his candidate's gaining fast.
In the next round of primaries and caucuses, Obama stands to get a quick boost in Louisiana, which votes Saturday, and should show well in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, which follow on Tuesday. Penn conceded Obama "enjoys some advantages" in many February states, but he was confident Clinton would do well in the March 4 Ohio and Texas primaries.
Some of the February states have large, active black populations — as much as half the Louisiana Democratic vote and one-third or more in Virginia and Maryland. Black voters broke for Obama on Tuesday by at least 4 to 1.
The Illinois senator's camp also argued that Obama showed Tuesday that he could win in states with tiny African-American populations, as he won caucuses in North Dakota, Idaho and Utah, a good omen with Nebraska's caucuses coming up Saturday.
He's also got what could be the biggest Obama advantage of all: He raised an estimated $32 million in January, roughly three times what Clinton took in, and he plans to quickly increase his staff and his ad buys.
But Clinton's team contends that she brings her big set of advantages. Her campaign Wednesday argued that the New York senator proved Tuesday she could win in big, diverse states — California, New York, New Jersey — as well as in Southern states, such as Arkansas and Tennessee, which shows she can compete in November.
Penn is calling for four debates against Obama this month, notably one in Ohio and one in Texas late in February, before those two crucial states vote. Obama's camp hasn't responded.
Super Tuesday also exposed weaknesses that make the race too difficult to call.
Obama couldn't capitalize on what seemed like strong momentum. In California, he projected the kind of celebrity that the state embraces, and his closing rally at UCLA Sunday with Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver and Oprah Winfrey should have been a huge boost.
But Clinton held on to her strong Latino constituency and beat Obama by 3 percentage points among whites, enough to win California.
Clinton, though, continues to be vulnerable. She was strong Tuesday where she's always been strong — among women, lower-income voters and moderates — but she couldn't break Obama's grip on higher-income, younger and black voters.
While she should have enough money to wage a strong campaign, her fundraising is lagging Obama's badly; she took in $13 million in January. Penn said Wednesday the campaign will have enough money to compete.
He said that Clinton in the weeks ahead plans to stress her economic remedies, particularly health care. The California exit poll showed that among voters who thought the economy was the most important issue — and nearly half did — she won by 13 points.
Obama's camp sees his best issue as the Iraq war, where he topped Clinton by 14 points among the one-third of voters who said Iraq mattered most.
This much was clear Wednesday: After more than half the states have voted, there's no clear favorite, and no clear formula either can follow.
Even the voters probably don't know how to figure out this one. As Bob Mulholland, a veteran California Democratic strategist, noted last week, "Democrats see two people they really like, and they just can't make up their mind."
By David Lightman
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton will talk about health care and argue that she's the candidate who can win the states that matter most this fall.
Barack Obama will stress his longstanding opposition to the Iraq war and maintain that he's got broader national appeal.
And they both can point to Super Tuesday's split decision as proof that they're right. Super Tuesday set up a duel between the two senators that now appears to have no obvious endpoint. Each is far from the 2,205 delegates needed for nomination, and until Texas and Ohio vote on March 4, no state has the potential to push either one way ahead. After that looms Pennsylvania on April 22.
But each camp Wednesday claimed victory, and maintained they held a slight lead in the delegate count. Clinton's forces said she won one more delegate than Obama Tuesday; Obama's campaign said he was up by 15. Overall, Clinton's lead was roughly 80 to 100 delegates.
David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, told reporters Wednesday that Clinton "failed miserably" this week because she wanted to effectively clinch the nomination on Super Tuesday but did not. Clinton's camp scoffed at such talk, and senior strategist Mark Penn predicted that "It is likely no side will gain an appreciate or significant advantage in delegate counts" for some time, but at the moment, "We're in the pole position."
The fight now spreads to different venues. Clinton and Obama will battle for the "superdelegates," party officials where Clinton has an edge, but Obama campaign manager David Plouffe claims his candidate's gaining fast.
In the next round of primaries and caucuses, Obama stands to get a quick boost in Louisiana, which votes Saturday, and should show well in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, which follow on Tuesday. Penn conceded Obama "enjoys some advantages" in many February states, but he was confident Clinton would do well in the March 4 Ohio and Texas primaries.
Some of the February states have large, active black populations — as much as half the Louisiana Democratic vote and one-third or more in Virginia and Maryland. Black voters broke for Obama on Tuesday by at least 4 to 1.
The Illinois senator's camp also argued that Obama showed Tuesday that he could win in states with tiny African-American populations, as he won caucuses in North Dakota, Idaho and Utah, a good omen with Nebraska's caucuses coming up Saturday.
He's also got what could be the biggest Obama advantage of all: He raised an estimated $32 million in January, roughly three times what Clinton took in, and he plans to quickly increase his staff and his ad buys.
But Clinton's team contends that she brings her big set of advantages. Her campaign Wednesday argued that the New York senator proved Tuesday she could win in big, diverse states — California, New York, New Jersey — as well as in Southern states, such as Arkansas and Tennessee, which shows she can compete in November.
Penn is calling for four debates against Obama this month, notably one in Ohio and one in Texas late in February, before those two crucial states vote. Obama's camp hasn't responded.
Super Tuesday also exposed weaknesses that make the race too difficult to call.
Obama couldn't capitalize on what seemed like strong momentum. In California, he projected the kind of celebrity that the state embraces, and his closing rally at UCLA Sunday with Caroline Kennedy, Maria Shriver and Oprah Winfrey should have been a huge boost.
But Clinton held on to her strong Latino constituency and beat Obama by 3 percentage points among whites, enough to win California.
Clinton, though, continues to be vulnerable. She was strong Tuesday where she's always been strong — among women, lower-income voters and moderates — but she couldn't break Obama's grip on higher-income, younger and black voters.
While she should have enough money to wage a strong campaign, her fundraising is lagging Obama's badly; she took in $13 million in January. Penn said Wednesday the campaign will have enough money to compete.
He said that Clinton in the weeks ahead plans to stress her economic remedies, particularly health care. The California exit poll showed that among voters who thought the economy was the most important issue — and nearly half did — she won by 13 points.
Obama's camp sees his best issue as the Iraq war, where he topped Clinton by 14 points among the one-third of voters who said Iraq mattered most.
This much was clear Wednesday: After more than half the states have voted, there's no clear favorite, and no clear formula either can follow.
Even the voters probably don't know how to figure out this one. As Bob Mulholland, a veteran California Democratic strategist, noted last week, "Democrats see two people they really like, and they just can't make up their mind."