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Presidential Picture - February 7, 2008
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WASHINGTON- Race for the White House begins with the political race that remains very close after Super Tuesday -- the nation's largest primary and caucus voting ever.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are not half-way to the delegate count needed to get their parties nomination. The difference between their delegate totals stands at around a 10-percentage point advantage for Clinton. But this weekend four states hold contests where Obama is expected to win or be very competitive.

They include Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington state, and Maine. And this upcoming Tuesday -- called Chesapeake Tuesday. There are contests in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia -- also states where Obama could increase his delegate count.

But then it's on to Clinton country in March and April with big states: Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Clinton has performed very well in big states and continues to poll well in all of these.

But this week Obama plans on campaign stops in Louisiana including a stop in New Orleans today. More than a dozen Louisiana lawmakers and other elected officials gathered yesterday on the state capitol steps to endorse him. It was the state's first show of an organized movement supporting Obama, ahead of Saturday's primary.

Obama raised the electability question following his Super Tuesday wins. He says because he won more delegates, in more states -- red and blue, in all regions of the country --- he is more electable than Clinton.

"I have no doubt that I can get the people who voted for Senator Clinton in a general election. It is not clear that Senator Clinton can get all the people that I'm getting in this process" said Obama.

Contests in Washington, Nebraska, and Maine are all caucuses - and Obama has won 7 of the 8 caucus states, losing only in Nevada.And after Super Tuesday, Clinton is thanking Latino voters -- especially in delegate-rich states like California, New Jersey, and New York.

In those states she won the Latino vote by more than 60-percent. And the first Tuesday in March, another big Latino state is coming up: Texas.In the Lone Star State Latinos account for one in every 5 registered voters.

Latinos are the the fastest-growing minority in the United States. But "shrinking" describes what's happening to Clinton's campaign coffers. And that led to the admission of a very generous donor last month.

"I did. I loaned the campaign $5 million from my money. That's where I got the money. I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign. We had a great month of fundraising in January. Broke all records. But my opponent was able to raise more money" said Senator Clinton.

Clinton raised about 13-million in January... Compared to Obama's 32-million.

"After the campaigns are over, you've always got the task of getting party behind the nominee. Whether it's a Congressional race or a Senate race or a Presidential race. I've spent my political career in doing that and will do that with the Republican party now" said John McCain.

McCain is trying to convince many in his party that he's conservative enough to deserve the Republican nomination. There's still some in the party who say he's not the right candidate to represent Republicans. Still, McCain has a third more delegates than Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee combined.

And after huddling Wednesday morning with advisers pouring over data -- Romney aides say he'll press on to the next battleground states, despite trailing McCain nearly 2 to 1 in delegates. Aides say the former Massachusetts governor is upbeat and that they're looking forward to future contests.

Romney is scheduled to address a conservative political action conference today in Washington D-C. Analysts say Mike Huckabee's wins in almost all of the Southern states on Tuesday gives him leverage over the Republican party platform or a legitimate claim to the number two slot. Still, he says he's running for president --- and not vice-president.

"Well, I would have a preference. It would be the Huckabee/McCain ticket. I think that might be formidable but again, I want to make sure which name would be listed first on the bumper strip" said Huckabee.

Huckabee says it has become a two-man race for the Republican nomination, and that it's between him and McCain. But Huckabee stopped short of suggesting Romney should drop out.

The New Mexico democratic caucus is still too close to call. Election officials are continuing to count ballots from Tuesday's caucus. Right now both Clinton and Obama are in a virtual tie. Election officials are still waiting on results from several counties and nearly 17,000 provisional ballots.

: Thomas Buchok
Edited by: Jessica Holley

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