Obama Triumphs in Virginia

Hillary Clinton tonight suffered a devastating defeat in the Virginia primary, one of three contests in and around Washington DC where she had hoped to remain competitive with Barack Obama.

Exit polls indicated the scale of victory for Obama was overwhelming.

On the Republican side, the contest was too close to call between John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Exit polls showed that 46% of those who voted in the GOP primary described themselves as Christian evangelicals, a constituency that in the earlier contests heavily backed Huckabee.

The vote was a huge disappointment for Clinton given she made a push in the state in the final days of the campaign. More bad news was expected, with opinion polls suggesting that Clinton was facing defeat in Washington DC and Maryland where polls close later tonight.

Turnout was high in spite of abnormal wintry conditions that left roads and pavements covered with a sheet of ice.

While Obama's win had been anticipated, his strong finish gives him additional momentum going into the next round of contests, which now could be decisive. Virginia was Obama's sixth successive primary win in a week.

"Just winning - whether he wins by one point or more points is a big deal for him," John Kerry, the Democrats' presidential candidate in 2004 and an Obama supporter told MSNBC.

Clinton now more than ever has to deliver strong wins over Obama in Texas and Ohio on March 4 if she is to remain in the Democratic race.

She lost little time in moving to the next battleground. Clinton flew out early from Washington DC today to launch an intensive effort to shore up her support in Texas, which could emerge as the last stand in an increasingly troubled campaign.

The Clinton team had hoped she would win well in both Texas and Ohio, which between them have 334 delegates at stake. But there have been recent signs of erosion in the Latino community, which is a crucial element of Clinton's strength in Texas.

Obama also did not wait for the results of the primaries, flying to Madison, capital of Wisconsin, a small state that votes next week. But the big prizes are Texas, which has 193 elected delegates at stake, and Ohio, which has 141.

Clinton is banking on the huge Latino vote in Texas to swing the state her way. After El Paso, she is to visit McAllen, a city that is 80% Latino, Robstown, 93%, and San Antonio, 61% — home to the most famous last stand in US history, the Alamo.

The erosion in Latino support could jeopardize her chances of scoring a big win over Obama. Latinos make up more than a third of the population of Texas.

While Clinton maintains an advantage over Obama in support from the party establishment in Texas and lingering goodwill from her husband's administration, a number of up-and-coming Latino politicians have broken rank since last week's Super Tuesday.

Their loss could be damaging for Clinton among a younger generation of Latino voters, as well as second-generation Mexican-Americans.

However, Clinton's long association with south Texas and along the border is expected to hold firm.

"What you have got is that the young professionals are leaning towards Obama, but if I had to guess, based on anecdotal stuff, the vast majority of regular Joes and Josies are going to stick with Hillary," said Harvey Kronberg, editor of the Quorum Report, which covers Texas politics.

However, he cautioned that predictions are difficult in a state that normally sees only a tepid turnout from African-American and Latino voters in primaries.

Clinton began airing television ads in Texas and Ohio today. After her tour of Texas, she is to fly to Ohio on Thursday, where she is counting on institutional support. She has been endorsed by Ted Strickland, the state's governor, as well as John Glenn, the former senator and astronaut. She is also hoping for support from white working-class voters to offset Obama's strengths among African-American voters in Ohio's big cities.

Before Texas and Ohio, two other states, Wisconsin and Hawaii — where Obama grew up — go to the polls next week. Obama is expected to take both.

Wisconsin borders his home state of Illinois, and has a history of independence and of rewarding candidates such as Obama who opposed the Iraq war.

Obama's campaign created an early buzz in Madison, as well as in Milwaukee, the state's biggest city, which has a sizeable African-American population. While Chelsea Clinton held an on-campus event for 600 in Madison on Monday, Obama's organisers hoped to attract more than 17,000 to the town's biggest stadium.

"The Wisconsin race is very much Obama's to lose, and I see him doing well," said John Stauber of the Center for Media and Democracy in Madison.