Clinton wins Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island
Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic primary elections in Ohio and Texas, it was projected today.
The victory in the close race is likely to extend the former First Lady’s 14-month battle with rival Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination for several weeks yet.
The two Democrats are set to split the 370 delegates which are at stake in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island between them.
Mrs Clinton will win Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island while Mr Obama will win Vermont, CNN projected.
Earlier, as voters went to the polls, Mrs Clinton said her campaign was just getting “warmed up” and Mr Obama said the New York senator had employed a “kitchen sink strategy” as she made a final bid to revive her presidential prospects.
As the race intensified in recent days, Mrs Clinton suggested that the young Illinois senator had been dishonest in his handling of the North America Free Trade Agreement, he was too inexperienced to be president, and that he would need a “foreign policy instruction manual” to keep America safe.
Exit polls in Ohio showed Mrs Clinton was winning the support of blue-collar voters (56% to Mr Obama’s 43%) and voters over 60 (67% to 31%).
In Texas, Hispanics, who make up around 40% of the Democratic electorate, also backed Mrs Clinton, 64% to 35%.
But African Americans, who make up about a fifth of voters in the state, backed Mr Obama 83% to 16%.
In a TV advert showing the White House phone ringing following a world emergency at 3am, the former First Lady has presented herself as the candidate with the experience needed to take command on her first day in the White House.
Mr Obama, who has broadcast a message of change and hope for America across the US, has said he would have superior judgment when it came to key decisions.
In the race for the 2,025 delegates needed to be named the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee at this summer’s convention, Mr Obama has 1,383 while Mrs Clinton has 1,276, AP figures showed.
Wearing bright red at her campaign headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, Mrs Clinton said: ``Why, thank you Ohio!
“For everyone here in Ohio and across America who’s ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out; for everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up; and for everyone who works hard but never gives up; this one is for you.”
To huge cheers of “Hillary, Hillary, Hillary”, she said: “You know what they say, ’As Ohio goes, so goes the nation’.
“Well, this nation’s coming back and so is this campaign.
“The people of Ohio have said loudly and clearly, ’We’re going on, we’re going strong and we’re going all the way.”’
With her daughter Chelsea at her side, Mrs Clinton added: “No candidate in recent history, Democrat or Republican, has won the White House without winning the Ohio primary.”
She said it was a “great night” but with two wars abroad and a troubled economy at home, America needed a president who was tested and ready to be commander in chief on day one “and who knows how to turn the economy around”.
“Ohio has written a new chapter in the history of this campaign, and we’re just getting started,” Mrs Clinton said.
“Millions of Americans” had not voted yet and want their turn to “help make history”, she added.
“They want their voices to count, and they should, they should be heard.
“This is your campaign and your moment and I need your support.”
She highlighted some of the differences between her policies and those of Mr Obama and, referring to his rhetoric and inspirational speeches, she said when there was an emergency in the world there was “no time for speeches and on-the-job training”.
But she added: “And finally, to Senator Obama who has brought so much to this race, I look forward to continuing our dialogue in the weeks ahead on the issues that matter most to our country.”
Referring to a mother who had told her she wanted her two young daughters to know that “anything is possible”, Mrs Clinton went on: “I say to them, ’Keep on watching, together we’re going to make history’.
“I have big dreams for America’s future. The question is not whether we can fulfil those dreams, but whether we will.
“And here’s our answer, ’Yes we will’.”
She added: “Together we will turn promises into action, words into solutions and hope into reality.
“Together we will seize this moment, lift this nation, and heal and lead this world.”
