Clinton Scores Wins in Ohio, Rhode Island, to Stay Alive in Democratic Contest against Obama

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton scored a life-saving victory in Ohio's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday and held a razor thin lead over Barack Obama in Texas, a political nail-biter that could reshape the still unpredictable campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

"For everyone here in Ohio and across America who has ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out, for everyone who has stumbled but stood back up and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you," Clinton told a jubilant victory rally in Columbus, Ohio. "You know what they say - as Ohio goes, so goes the nation. Well, this nation is coming back and so is this campaign."

TV networks declared Clinton the winner in Ohio just before 11 p.m. with 53 percent of the vote counted in the Buckeye State. She had 57 percent of the vote, compared to 41 percent for Obama, even though state election officials said counting the ballots would not be completed until Wednesday morning.

With 34 percent of the vote counted in Texas, Clinton held a slight lead, 50-49 percent, over Obama.

Obama, at a rally in San Antonio, noted that the results in Texas may not be known until Wednesday, but offered congratulations to Clinton for a "hard-fought race" Tuesday. He contended, however, that no matter what the results, he would retain his delegate lead and vowed that "we are on our way to winning this nomination."

Indeed, most of Obama's remarks Tuesday night were aimed the newly minted Republican nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Obama said he looked forward to debating McCain who, he said, had fallen "in line" behind the policies of the Bush administration that had "ill-served this nation."

Clinton losses in both Ohio and Texas could have started a stampede of party support for Obama and put added pressure on her to drop out so the Democratic Party can take aim at McCain, who clinched the Republican nomination with a clean sweep of GOP primaries Tuesday.

"After a double loss, her chances would equal that of snowball in El Paso on the Fourth of July, " said John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College in California. But with the win in Ohio, "she's alive, but with buzzards circling," he added.

But Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic activist, said on CNN, "This is a great comeback for Senator Clinton, and this race is far from over."

Even before the polls closed in Texas and Ohio, Obama scored his 12th consecutive victory over Clinton with a lopsided win in Vermont's presidential primary. He had nearly 60 percent of the vote in Vermont.

But Clinton, with renewed strength from her base of women, blue collar and older voters and new support among men, broke Obama's sting with a victory in Rhode Island, 61-38 percent.

Both sides traded accusations of voting irregularities in Texas, an indication of just how high the stakes were in Tuesday's balloting. In a conference call with reporters Tuesday night. Clinton legal counsel Lyn Utrecht said Obama supporters had blocked the entry of Clinton supporters to the caucuses that followed the precinct poll voting in Texas. Bob Bauer, an Obama official, joined the conference call to dispute the allegations.

Obama was hoping for a clean sweep that would put even more pressure on Clinton to end her bid for the party's nomination. But in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island, Clinton appeared to have won back the base of supporters that had helped her score 10 victories, including California, the most important state in the Democratic general election playbook.

She also appeared to have succeeded in recent days in raising questions about whether Obama is qualified to be commander-in-chief. "The phone ad clearly worked for them," CNN analyst David Gergen said, referring to a Clinton TV ad with a dramatized middle-of-the-night crisis call to the White House.

Clinton's success in Ohio came as a result of renewed support from groups that have been drifting toward Obama in recent weeks as he rolled up 11 consecutive victories in primaries or caucuses - white, blue collar and older voters. Exit polls in Ohio showed Clinton getting the votes of two in three white women, six in 10 white men, two in three votes from people with no more than high school diplomas and two of every three voters over the age of 65.

She tied with Obama among white men in Texas and came close to equaling him among white men in Rhode Island.

"Hillary's message of who would be the best commander-in-chief, who would be the best steward of the economy, that resonated in both Texas and Ohio," said Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Clinton campaign.

Indeed, according to the exit polls in Ohio's Democratic primary, 57 percent said Clinton is more qualified to be commander-in-chief compared to 40 percent for Obama. In Texas, 54 favored Clinton in the role of commander-in-chief while 40 percent chose Obama.

And on the question of whether the candidates have a clear economic plan for the country, in Ohio, 68 percent agreed that Clinton does, 57 percent said Obama does. In Texas, 65 percent said Clinton does, 53 percent said Obama does.

Still, time appeared to be running out for Clinton. Even former President Bill Clinton said last week that she needed to win Texas and Ohio to continue her campaign.

But earlier Tuesday, Clinton sounded as if she plans to continue her bid or the nomination. "You don't get to the White House as a Democrat without winning Ohio," she said in Houston.

Obama, campaigning in San Antonio, sounded as if he is resigned to a campaign that lasts at last through the Pennsylvania primary April 22. He called Clinton "a tenacious and determined candidate" and predicted little shift in his delegate lead no matter what the outcome in Texas and Ohio is.

The economy was the top issue for voters in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont, according to the exit polls. And a whopping eight in 10 in Ohio, where the two Democratic candidates trading barbs over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), said international trade takes more jobs from the state than it creates. In the other three states, six in 10 said international trade causes job losses.

But in Vermont, voters cited the war in Iraq as the most important issue (38 percent) as those who listed the economy as their top priority (40 percent). And that may have contributed to Obama's victory there, with nearly 60 percent of the vote.

As in previous contests, Obama won majorities of younger voters, blacks, college educated and independents, but Clinton cut into those majorities, with the exception of blacks, who supported Obama by a margin of nearly nine to one.

In all there were 370 Democratic delegates at stake Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear what the final tally would be once the results were in from all four states.

Hispanics, a group that has favored Clinton in earlier primaries, cast nearly one-third of the Election Day votes in Texas, up from about one quarter of the ballots four years ago, according to interviews with voters as they left their polling

places. And 63 percent voted for Clinton in Texas, compared to 35 percent for Obama.

It takes 2,025 delegates to win the Democratic nomination, and slightly more than 600 remained to be picked in the 10 states that vote after Tuesday.

Clinton picked up at least five delegates in Rhode Island. Obama won at least eight delegates in Vermont.

Obama had a total of 1,397 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates, according to the Associated Press count. Clinton had 1,281, according to the AP.

Turnout was heavy in all four states. An Ohio judge granted a request from the Obama campaign to extend voting in some Cleveland-area precincts that ran short of ballots.