Mississippi Democrats head to polls
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
JACKSON, MAR 11 (AP): Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton's battle for the Democratic presidential nomination shifted to Mississippi Tuesday, where voting began in a race in which the former first lady has played down her chances.
Mississippi's large black electorate makes it fertile ground for Obama, who has won most of the southern states by rolling up huge margins among black voters. Hillary, the New York senator, campaigned in the state last week, but by Monday was in Pennsylvania, where the primary April 22 offers the biggest prize left in the nomination race: 158 delegates.
Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois who is seeking to become the first black US president, spent the day in Mississippi, drawing enthusiastic crowds in Columbus and Jackson, the capital. At stake are 33 delegates and another chance for Obama to rebound from last week's losses to Clinton in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Obama defeated Hillary in a minor contest in Wyoming Saturday.
Mississippi's large black electorate makes it fertile ground for Obama, who has won most of the southern states by rolling up huge margins among black voters. Hillary, the New York senator, campaigned in the state last week, but by Monday was in Pennsylvania, where the primary April 22 offers the biggest prize left in the nomination race: 158 delegates.
Obama, the first-term senator from Illinois who is seeking to become the first black US president, spent the day in Mississippi, drawing enthusiastic crowds in Columbus and Jackson, the capital. At stake are 33 delegates and another chance for Obama to rebound from last week's losses to Clinton in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Obama defeated Hillary in a minor contest in Wyoming Saturday.