United States:Barack Obama seemed poised yesterday to chalk up three more wins over Hillary Clinton in Maryland, Virginia and Washington DC that would give him a clear delegate lead in the Democratic nomination race.
Mr Obama packed arenas in Baltimore and College Park Maryland yesterday, while Mrs Clinton pursued voters in smaller settings.
Polls in all three jurisdictions show Mr Obama the favourite to win a majority of the 168 delegates at stake.
"You're looking at a groundswell," said Keith Haller, president of Potomac Inc, a Maryland-based political consulting company not affiliated with any campaign. The Illinois senator, he said, would win the capital overwhelmingly, and in Virginia and Maryland, the "yield for Obama is likely to be more significant than just splitting the delegates."
Obama will be building on the momentum he gained after winning in four states over the weekend - Maine, Nebraska, Louisiana and Washington - and having battled Clinton to a draw in 22 states on February 5th.
His campaign claimed a narrow edge in pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention after his Saturday wins.
An unofficial estimate by the independent non-partisan website, thegreenpapers.com, shows Obama ahead of Clinton by 925 delegates to 896.
Another projection shows Clinton ahead with 1,136 delegates to 1,108 for Obama, counting Democratic office holders and party officials known as super delegates who are not bound by results in primaries and caucuses. A candidate needs 2,025 delegates to win the nomination.
Republicans were also voting yesterday, and Arizona Senator John McCain has a lead in polls over former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. McCain has the backing of top party leaders in both states. He also was endorsed yesterday by former Florida governor Jeb Bush, the brother of president George W Bush, who called him a "devoted conservative leader."
Obama has broad support in Washington, the nation's capital, where the majority of voters are black and he is backed by mayor Adrian Fenty. Mrs Clinton has not conceded the city. She visited supporters at the National Council of Negro Women Building yesterday.
Obama also has a lead in Maryland, which has two of the constituencies - wealthy suburbanites and a large African-American community - that polls show have favoured him. A February survey by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research conducted for MSNBC and McClatchy newspapers, showed him leading Clinton by 18 percentage points.
- (Bloomberg)