Super Tuesday returns are still coming in, but what is becoming abundantly clear is that, as predicted by many, the Democratic race will go on. On the Republican side, results show John McCain as the clear frontrunner.
UPDATE: Obama claims delegate lead though Dem candidates are virtually tied.
Here are the state-by-state results of voting, which don't necessarily provide the most accurate picture of what happened, as Obama won more states, but Clinton took states with a larger delegate count.
CLINTON: AR, AZ, CA, MA, NY, NJ, OK, TN
OBAMA: AK, AL, CT, CO, DE, GA, ID, IL, KS, MN, MO, ND, UT
HUCKABEE: AL, AR, GA, TN, WV
MCCAIN: AZ, CA, CT, DE, IL, MO, NJ, NY, OK
ROMNEY: CO, MA, MN, MT, ND, UT
As of 7:30 EST, according to CNN, the delegate count for the Democrats stood at Clinton 825, Obama 732, with 2,025 needed to win the nomination.
For the Republicans, John McCain further increased the lead over his rivals, with 615 delegates to Romney's 268, and Huckabee's 169. 1,191 are need to win that nomination.
Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo writes: “If you look at this from the vantage point of two weeks ago, it's a huge win for Obama, since he was trailing in states across the country by a very big margin. From the vantage point of the last couple days, however, it's much less clear. The hype of his momentum just got a bit out ahead of what he was able to pull off. And in that sense there's very mild echo of New Hampshire, though the Clinton campaign is silly to claim some sort of comeback. There were a handful of states which, had he won two or more of them, would have taken him from a delegate tie to a decisive win that would have been Clinton seriously on the defensive. But it didn't happen. Not in New Jersey or Massachusetts and most importantly not in California, which Clinton won decisively. But I think all these competing scenarios make one point clear. The only arguments for one side or the other being a winner here come down to airy and finally meaningless arguments about expectations. And the result tells a different tale. It's about delegates. It's dead even. You've got two well-funded candidates who've demonstrated an ability to power back from defeats. And neither is going anywhere.”
Above, Obama and Clinton speak to their supporters. Below, McCain's speech.
