McCain in control of GOP; Obama, Clinton in Democratic dogfight

John McCain surged far ahead in the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday -- far enough to turn his thoughts to the task of uniting the party behind him.

For Democrats, the battle continues, but with Hillary Clinton scoring a key victory in California, the nation's largest state. While Clinton maintained a lead in the delegate count late Tuesday, Barack Obama was set to emerge from Super Tuesday well within striking distance as the campaign continues.

Here in Illinois, McCain outpolled Mitt Romney, by nearly 2 to 1. McCain later captured the day's biggest prize -- California, where Romney had hoped to pull off an upset to slow his rival.

More Coverage Links Complete Daily Herald election coverage Daily Herald state by state scorecard Stories Super Tuesday delegate count [02/05/08] Constable: Obama candidacy spurs activism [02/05/08] More suburban voters pick Democrat ballots [02/05/08] Record turnout possible in some suburban counties [02/05/08] Clinton supporters express cautious optimism at rally [02/05/08] GOP also-rans are still hopeful [02/05/08] McCain and Obama reap high tallies [02/05/08] Sampling from Illinois exit polls [02/05/08] Highlights of Super Tuesday exit polls [02/05/08] Super Tuesday lives up to billing [02/05/08] Analysis: Super Tuesday the start of nomination marathon for Dems [02/05/08] Analysis: McCain bids for unstoppable lead, Romney tries to stay alive [02/05/08] McCain takes swipe at Romney [02/05/08] Video McCain Likes Being in Front No clear winners on Super Tuesday? Clinton Reacts to Super Tuesday Victories Did Candidates Connect With Voters? Romney Vows to Continue Fight Photo Galleries Memorable moments from the local elections

Romney was hurt by a surprise show of strength from Mike Huckabee. Yet he told supporters he would "keep on battling#8230;all the way to the convention."

Huckabee ran well, carrying at least five states and further impeding Romney's effort to catch McCain.

Obama, as expected, carried his home state easily, winning roughly two-thirds of the presidential preference vote. But because Democratic Party rules allocate convention delegates in proportion to the popular vote, Clinton managed to win a share of delegates here.

Those rules played a key role in preventing either Democrat from landing a knockout punch Tuesday. In state after state, the two survivors of what began as a seven-person field divided both popular votes and delegates in nearly even numbers. Clinton, as expected, won New York and New Jersey. Less expectedly, she won Massachusetts. The New York senator also strung together victories in the mid-South, extending west, winning in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Arkansas, where she was once first lady.

Obama, for his part, counted among his victories Georgia, Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, North Dakota, Connecticut and Minnesota, to go along with Illinois.

Early exit poll results showed Obama racking up large majorities among black voters, while Clinton took an estimated 6 of 10 Hispanic votes. Obama was leading among white men, Clinton among white women.

Now the Democrats move on to Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington on Saturday and to an East Coast cluster -- Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. -- on Tuesday. So close is the delegate count that the race might go on until Ohio and Texas vote on March 4 or even until Pennylvanians cast ballots on April 22.

Obama is generally considered to be well positioned in Louisiana and the Atlantic seaboard states voting next week. Clinton has maintained poll leads in Texas and Ohio.

But this primary season has proven to be among the most dynamic and fluid in recent memory. Obama's momentum and cash on hand -- $32 million raised in January alone -- pose new challenges to Clinton, who has not announced her January fund-raising totals but presumably generated less money.

DePaul University marketing professor Bruce Newman, a voter behavior expert who once advised Bill Clinton, said Hillary Clinton has to find a way to counteract the way Obama cuts into her support once he actually spends time in a state.

Newman said Clinton's best chance to do so is to keep drawing attention to what she sees as her greater depth on policy matters.

"The only way she can do that, from a marketing standpoint," Newman said, "is to come out with some significant policy and platform statements that put Obama on the defensive, force him to come up with ideas to back up his 'change' theme. If I were advising her, I'd say let's play the 'Where's the beef' game that (Walter Mondale) did with Gary Hart."

Clinton, in her Tuesday night remarks, tried to divert attention from the horse-race aspects of the campaign.

"This is not about politics, not about who's up and who's down," she told a rally in New York. "It's about your lives, your problems, your futures."

For either candidate to draw deep distinctions on issues could prove difficult at this point, nearly a year after Obama and Clinton first hit the trail. But Obama continues his effort to gain traction among the Democratic base by criticizing Clinton's vote supporting Bush's initial war effort in Iraq. Clinton, meanwhile, has stressed Obama falls short on universal health care coverage.

But those policy differences have taken a back seat at times to a subplot of race, gender, the role of Bill Clinton and which candidate would prove most electable in November's general election.

With McCain assuming presumed nominee status, a new round of polls matching Obama and Clinton's relative strength against the Arizona senator will appear, perhaps exerting more pressure on Clinton to show how she would compete effectively against him.

If the Democratic outcome is not settled by the time Pennsylvania votes, the contest ultimately could be decided by uncommitted "superdelegates." Or it could even come down to the national party's decision on whether to seat Clinton delegates from Florida and Michigan -- states penalized by the Democratic National Committee for scheduling early primaries.

Back on the Republican side, McCain's immediate job is to assure conservative Republicans wary of him that he would, if elected, stand for their principles. That task is complicated by their dissatisfaction with the Arizona senator's votes on taxes, immigration, global warming and campaign finance laws -- issues all stressed repeatedly by Romney in recent days.

But in those same days leading up to Super Tuesday, McCain began reacting to this challenge, stressing he now supports making Bush's tax cuts permanent and securing the U.S. border with Mexico before implementing other elements of immigration reform.

Newman said McCain's effort to rally conservatives around him becomes easier if Clinton is the nominee.

"In that case, he's got no problem," Newman said. "Conservatives could care less who their nominee is if Hillary's the opposition."