Washington: Obama surged to victory in Georgia, a state with a big bloc of black voters who have been his strongest supporters, as he battled for advantage over Clinton on the biggest day of US presidential nominating contests ahead of November's election.

Clinton, a New York senator, was hoping to hold off a wave of momentum for Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black US president. Obama has almost caught her in national polls and leads in several states taking part in the coast-to-coast voting.

The fact that we ve made so much progress I think indicates that we ve got the right message, Obama said on NBC's Today show. More than half the total delegates to the Democratic party convention in August and about 40 per cent of the delegates to the Republican convention in September were up for grabs.

Economic worries -- plunging housing values, rising energy and food prices, jittery financial markets and new data showing a big contraction in the service sector -- have eclipsed the Iraq war as voters top concern, opinion polls showed.

Among Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain aimed to knock Mitt Romney out of the race, but rival Mike Huckabee scored the first Republican win at a convention in West Virginia. The three were running close in Georgia in early returns, with the result too close to call, US networks projected.

Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, won in the second round of balloting at the West Virginia convention after Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, led on the first ballot.

Huckabee was aided by McCain voters who switched to him to deny Romney a victory, drawing a protest from Romney s camp. A BACKROOM DEAL This is what Senator McCain s inside-Washington ways look like: he cut a backroom deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney's campaign of conservative change, Romney campaign manager Beth Myers said.

st, many of the 21 Republican contests are winner-take-all when awarding delegates, meaning a strong day by McCain could give him a commanding lead. McCain has struggled to win over conservatives in the party, who have been unhappy with his views on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform. REUTERS SBA AS0615

Source : UNI