Obama campaign predicts victory
(CNN) - Obama staffers followed a late-night Clinton campaign conference call Tuesday with one of their own just minutes later, with campaign manager David Plouffe reporting that the Illinois senator was still holding a narrow edge among pledged delegates, with just a few states left to report.
"If this ends up being a draw – and it may end up that we win more states – and the delegates are close, it would a remarkable night for us," said Plouffe.
He said the campaign’s tally of delegates awarded in voting tonight stood at 606 to 534, thanks to a big win for Obama in Illinois compared to a narrower victory for Clinton in New York.
Plouffe also predicted victories in Kansas and Minnesota – states Obama did win a short time later. (They amended their count shortly after midnight, saying it was 677-634 in Obama’s favor.)
He said the campaign would release a final delegate count between 3 and 5 a.m. - after results were expected in California, the night’s big prize.
Clinton, they conceded, maintained an advantage among superdelegates – unpledged delegates which may prove decisive in this close race.
–CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux and Chris Welch contributed to this report
Schneider: Immigration stance paying off for Romney in California
(CNN) – Immigration is a key issue for Republican voters in California – a fact that is benefiting Romney, and helping keep the race close there.
Illegal immigration and the economy are roughly tied as the most important issue for California Republicans. As has been the case in some other states, McCain is beating Romney among economy voters in California by 12 points, even though Romney has been emphasizing his business background and understanding of how the economy works.
But Romney has a clear lead among voters most worried about immigration – he's beating McCain by 34 points on the issue. Illegal immigration has proven to be less of an important issue in other states, and by extension less beneficial to Romney. Romney's tough stance on the issue seems to be paying off in California.
–CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider
CNN projects Romney wins Minnesota
To track the Minnesota caucus results county-by-county, click here: Minnesota
Clinton campaign touts early wins, eyes California
NEW YORK (CNN) – In a 10 p.m. conference call with reporters, Hillary Clinton’s campaign touted the night’s early victories - but were careful to avoid any big predictions for the rest of the evening.
Clinton’s political field director Guy Cecil said he expects the Democratic delegate chase to extend well beyond tonight and into April, when Pennsylvania will be the largest prize.
“We need to drill down in a number of states, not just in February but March and beyond,” he said.
Clinton’s strategist Mark Penn said their wins in Massachusetts and New York were “encouraging” and that the campaign felt optimistic about the evening’s later contests in New Mexico, Arizona and California.
“The night is not over,” Penn cautioned. He predicted, as the campaign has in recent days, that the campaign will be ahead in the overall delegate count at the end of the night (a tally that would include already-pledged superdelegates, of which Clinton has more than Barack Obama.)
He said Obama’s win in Connecticut, a state just miles from Clinton’s home in Chappaqua, New York, was to be expected.
“The biggest upset so far has been Massachusetts,” he said, referencing Obama’s prominent endorsements in the state. “I don’t think that Connecticut was really a surprise.”
Related: CNN's Candy Crowley reports on the outlook of Super Tuesday for Clinton
- CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
CNN projects Romney wins North Dakota
To track the North Dakota caucus results county-by-county, click here: North Dakota
Clinton leading in tight Super Tuesday race for Dems
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/POLITICS/02/05/super.dems/art.clinton.vote.gi.jpg caption="Sen. Clinton cast her ballot in New York Tuesday."]
(CNN) - New York Sen. Hillary Clinton claimed wins across most of the Northeast in Super Tuesday Democratic presidential primaries and split Deep South states with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, according to CNN projections.
CNN forecast Clinton, the former first lady, to win her home state and neighboring New Jersey - as well as Massachusetts, where the state's two senators and governor had endorsed Obama.
She also was forecast to win primaries in Arkansas - where her husband was governor for more than a decade - and neighboring Oklahoma and Tennessee.
CNN projected Obama would win primaries in Delaware, Connecticut and Illinois, which sent him to the U.S. Senate in 2004. And he notched up substantial wins in heavily African-American Georgia and Alabama, despite extensive support for Clinton among black officials in each state.
The contests spread into the northern Great Plains as the evening went on, with Obama heading for wins in Democratic caucuses in North Dakota and Kansas.
Schneider: Obama winning white voters in New Mexico
(CNN) – Hillary Clinton may have the edge among white voters nationally, but in New Mexico Barack Obama is leading her among that demographic, 55 percent to 37 percent. This is a clear departure from the national trend that shows Clinton with the edge among white voters. (She's beating Obama nationwide among white Democrats by 8 points.)
But New Mexico remains highly competitive overall because the Latino vote there is breaking strongly for Clinton, 61 percent to 30 percent.
–CNN Political Analyst Bill Schneider
Schneider: McCain fought hard in home state
(CNN) – John McCain’s win in his home state wasn’t an easy one. For much of the night, the Arizona senator was neck-and-neck with Mitt Romney among Republican voters - and among self-identified conservatives, at one point, he was losing to Romney by 11 points. McCain's clearly having a good night, but it appears it was a hard-fought victory among Republicans who know him best.
–CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider
CNN projects McCain wins Arizona
To track the Arizona primary results county-by-county, click here: Arizona
McCain pulls ahead; Huckabee, Romney also score
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.l.cnn.net/cnn/2008/POLITICS/02/05/super.gop/art.huckabee.tues.ap.jpg caption="Mike Huckabee vowed to stay in the presidential race as returns came in on Tuesday night."]
(CNN) - Arizona Sen. John McCain was piling up early wins in important Super Tuesday states in the Republican race for the White House Tuesday - with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also posting multiple victories just days after ignoring calls to drop out of the race.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who had been campaigning as the only viable conservative alternative to national front-runner McCain, had posted one win - in the state where he used to govern.
McCain appeared headed to the top spots in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut and Delaware, based on early returns and results from exit polls in those states.
Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor recently written off as a spoiler by other Republican front-runners, made a strong showing early, winning the West Virginia party convention then, according to projections, handily taking his home state.
On the line Tuesday were more than 1,000 of the 1,191 delegates necessary for the Republican nomination.
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