<nticipated Super Tuesday results bring the nation one step closer to determining the party candidates for the 2008 Presidential Election.
For the Democratic Party, the results remain inconclusive. Leading candidates Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama ran a remarkably close race, prompting political pundits to regard the Democratic nomination as still up for grabs.
Clinton won the majority vote in nine states. She secured 892 pledged delegates and according to a New York Times survey conducted February 2 is the projected favorite amongst unpledged party delegates, or Superdelegates. The survey showed 25 percent of Democratic Superdelegates supporting Clinton and 10 percent supporting Obama, leaving over 60 percent undecided.
Obama won the majority vote in 13 states. He secured 716 pledged delegates. The Democratic candidate must secure 2025 delegates in order to win the party nomination.
The popular vote remains neck and neck. “According to an analysis by The New York Times: Mrs. Clinton won 7,427,700 votes, or 50.20 percent of the two-candidate vote; Mr. Obama won 7,369,798 votes, or 49.80 percent. (The tally is based on incomplete returns, does not include the 411,740 votes won by John Edwards, who has dropped out, or by other candidates, and does not include Alaska, where the results did not represent individual votes but rather the preferences of delegates to the state convention,)” reported Patrick Healy of the New York Times, February 7.
The Republican race proved slightly more conclusive. Senator John McCain won the majority vote in nine states and secured 689 of the 1191 delegates needed in order to win the party nomination. Mitt Romney won the majority vote in 7 states and secured 133 delegates. Mike Huckabee won the majority vote in 5 states and secured 156 party delegates.
Mitt Romney announced that he would put his presidential bid on hold—the Republican field continues to narrow. “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win,” Romney said in his concession speech as reported by The Washington Post, February 7.
In Washington, analysts view McCain as the likely Republican presidential nominee. The Senator’s campaign will continue to reach out to the conservative voters.
Recent headlines have highlighted the financial state of the Democratic campaigns. Clinton recently revealed that she had lent her campaign 5 million dollars; Obama raised 3 million for his campaign in one day, reported Healey. He has since raised over 7 million toward his campaign.
Both leading Democratic candidates are now settling into long-term campaign strategy as they seek the Democratic nomination in the fiercely competitive race toward the DFL Convention in August.