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WASHINGTON : Democrat Barack Obama looked Sunday to ride a wave of weekend wins to deal Hillary Clinton new defeats in the "Potomac Primary," a trio of contests that have gained importance in the tight White House race.
Buoyed by four victories on Saturday, Obama was campaigning in Virginia, which holds primaries on Tuesday along with its Potomac river neighbors, Maryland and the US capital Washington.
Obama, who seeks to become the first black US president, is considered the favorite to take Maryland and Washington, which have large African-American population.
The former first lady also looks vulnerable in Virginia as an average of opinion polls by RealClearPolitics.com, an independent poll-tracking website, showed Obama leading by 17 percentage points.
The closest Democratic nomination race in recent memory has made every caucus and primary a crucial contest, as Obama and Clinton battle for every single delegate who will formally crown the nominee in the party's convention.
After their battle ended in a stalemate on the 22-state Super Tuesday, Obama won big on Saturday in Washington state, Nebraska, Louisiana, and the Virgin Islands, outscoring the former first lady by 2 to 1.
"We won north, we won south, we won in between," Obama, 46, told 6,000 cheering guests in an electrifying speech at a Democratic dinner in Virginia.
"People want to turn the page. They want to write a new chapter in American history. And today the voters from the west coast to the Gulf coast to the heart of America stood up to say yes, we can."
Clinton, 60, was also pumping up the crowds at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Richmond, Virginia, asking: "Are you ready to take back the White House and take back our country?"
Caucuses were being held in Maine on Sunday. But Saturday's losses have raised the stakes for Clinton, who badly needs a win column to gain momentum before bigger prizes, Texas and Ohio, vote on March 4.
Virginia is the biggest prize of the Potomac Primary with 83 delegates, while Maryland counts 70 of them. The US capital, which is not part of any state, offers 15 delegates.
Clinton and Obama are locked in a tussle for delegates to the party's convention in Denver, Colorado, in August, chasing the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination for November's presidential elections.
A RealClearPolitics.com count of delegates shows that Obama narrowed Clinton's slim lead following Saturday's contests. The New York senator has 1,121 delegates compared to 1,106 for Obama.
On the Republican side, John McCain failed to win in Kansas and Louisiana, proving he has yet to convince many conservatives despite becoming the likely party nominee after main rival Mitt Romney quit the race last week.
The two states went to ordained Baptist minister Mike Huckabee, who has vowed to fight on despite having little chance of overcoming McCain's huge delegate lead. He took Kansas by 60 percent and snatched Louisiana with 44 percent to 42 percent for McCain.
McCain won the Republican caucuses in Washington state, but his narrow victory -- 26 percent against 24 percent for Huckabee and 21 percent for Texas Congressman Ron Paul -- showed conservatives remain suspicious of him.
A Vietnam war hero, McCain, 71, has some 724 delegates to 234 for Huckabee. A total of 1,191 are needed for the nomination.
But Huckabee has been doing well in conservative, rural states.
"I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them," he told supporters Saturday, warning McCain "the game is on."
- AFP /ls
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