Washington: Super Tuesday's battle for presidential nominations ended in a virtual dead heat for Democrats with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama carving up the country, while John McCain took a big lead among Republicans.

In the biggest day of primaries to pick nominees for the November 4 poll, Obama, hoping to be America's first black president won 13 states, Clinton aspiring to be the first woman to occupy the oval office took eight in the coast-to-coast contests in 22 states. But Clinton's wins included the key prizes of California and New York, making for a virtual draw in the hard-fought Democratic duel and pointing to a prolonged struggle for party nomination.

The Clinton and Obama camps said they expected Tuesday's delegate count to wind up relatively even. Overall, by early Wednesday, Clinton had 845 delegates and Obama 765, the Washington Post said, well short of the 2,025 either needs to win the nomination.

A new round of contests in a half-dozen states are scheduled within the next week, including Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. These are likely to give a clearer idea whether Obama can continue his surge against Clinton.

But the Republicans seemed closer to picking up their nominee with Vietnam War veteran John McCain winning nine contests, including victories in California and the Northeast, to take a commanding lead in the Republican race.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won seven states, while former Arkansas Governor's Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher, won five. The Post said McCain now had 613 delegates to Romney's 269 and Huckabee's 190, with 1,191 needed to win. McCain, who lost the Republican primary race in 2000 to George W. Bush, still faces a struggle to win over conservatives in the party, who oppose his views on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform.

As Romney and Huckabee vowed to fight on, the New York Times said Huckabee underlined Romney's weakness by posting a series of victories, in a performance that highlighted the discomfort social conservatives have with the field.

"Huckabee's relatively strong showing was both a blessing and a curse for McCain, though perhaps more of a blessing," it said. "It injected a small note of uncertainty into the Republican race, and potentially delayed the day when McCain would have the stage to himself." But Huckabee appeared to drain votes primarily away from Romney, contributing to his overall weak showing on this night.

"This split in the road for Democrats and Republicans should - if and when McCain can claim his party's nomination - be a welcome development for McCain, who would have time to begin quelling doubts about him among conservatives," the Times said. The consensus in the US media on Wednesday was that Democratic contests left the race still up in the air with USA Today saying the Democratic contest "sprinted through 22 states on Tuesday and emerged as it was before: deadlocked".

The New York Times said it was "a night when neither" Obama nor Clinton "could decisively lay claim - or even secure an edge - to the nomination, assuring an electoral fight that will unfold for weeks to come".

The Wall Street Journal noted the rules "governing allocation of delegates" are "certain to keep the race going in the states to come". The Los Angeles Times said Clinton and Obama "duelled to a 'Super Tuesday' draw, capturing states big and small and padding their delegate counts in a Democratic contest that remains highly competitive".

The New York Times said exit polls "showed formidable strengths for each candidate, with Obama gaining appeal with white voters - particularly white men - and Clinton solidifying her support among Hispanics". The Washington Post said the elections "laid bare a profound racial and ethnic divide among Democratic voters, with African Americans overwhelmingly preferring Barack Obama, while Latinos largely favoured Hillary Clinton".

Clinton "did well with seniors, low-income voters and registered Democrats. Obama was strong with independents, younger people, the affluent and the highly educated," added USA Today.

Indian Americans make impact on 'Super Tuesday'

New York: Indian Americans, who have a sizeable population in crucial 'Super Tuesday' states like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois, voted in large numbers in the presidential primaries to play a vital role in shaping the country's political landscape.

Indian American voters may have, in fact, been the swing voters in some of the closely contested states, thus contributing to determining the front-running nominees for president from the Democratic and Republican parties. New Jersey, which traditionally held its primaries long after the races were more or less decided, was moved up to 'Super Tuesday' this time.

According to a statement by the US-India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), which claims to be the political voice of 2.5 million Indian Americans, the community's support for Barack Obama inched closer in the past month to that for Hillary Clinton because he was able to win over the middle-class and younger voters. Clinton eventually triumphed in a close race between the two Democrats.

"The Indian American understands the importance of participating in the political process, especially this year, given New Jersey's significant relevance in helping to elect the nation's next president," said Rob Andrews, Democrat Congressman from the state.

In California, the 300,000 Indian Americans who work in Silicon Valley, looked for the most business-friendly candidate who believes that market forces are best and that outsourcing is not a "war against the (American) middle class" as CNN commentator Lou Dobbs would have you believe.

Outsourcing, however, has not been a big issue during the presidential race so far, partly due to growing concerns over domestic issues such as the looming recession. The leading presidential candidates have broadly been in favour of allowing the global economy to dictate the flow of jobs and business.

Clinton and Obama seek to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to strengthen enforcement of labour and environmental standards. Mitt Romney, arguably the most pro-business candidate on the Republican side, has been vocal on renegotiating liberalised trade with China to stop currency manipulation that gives Chinese products unfair advantage.

"Indian-Americans like all Asian-Americans are poised to make a historic impact on 'Super Tuesday', especially in California where a fifth of the nominating convention delegates aare being contested, and where Asian-American voters continue to trend Democratic," Congressman Mike Honda, vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, was quoted as saying by the USINPAC.

As the results came in, Clinton had taken the state and Romney's rival, John McCain, was the Republican winner. In Illinois too the poll date was pushed up from March to Feb 5. Economic issues dominated in the state where Indian Americans are active players in commerce.

Jonathan Singh Bedi, an Indian American who lost in the legislative primary (Democrat) for District 5 of the state senate, gave voice to other issues of import to the Indian American community. "The election will determine the outcome of the issues most important to our community including work visas, the erosion of our constitutional liberties, economic development, international trade and national security priorities," he said.

In Georgia, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the US House of Representatives, praised the grassroots involvement of the Indian American community in the state.

"Indian Americans continue to make a significant contribution to our society, and the community itself has grown dramatically in its political sophistication and involvement, and thus in making its voice heard clearly," Gingrich, the Republican from Georgia, said in the USINPAC release.

Tony Patel, a Democratic candidate for District 47 in the Georgia general assembly, added: "As physicians, educators, business owners and hardworking citizens, we must exercise our right to vote and have our voices heard on important issues such as educational excellence, affordable health care and responsible government."

Obama won the Georgia primary and Mike Huckabee emerged the Republican winner in the state.

Hillary Clinton set to win California primary

Washington: Senator Hillary Clinton defeated rival Barack Obama in crucial California democratic primary, bagging the biggest prize in Tuesday's presidential nomination vote.

Clinton, 60, captured a majority of the state's 370 delegates for the party's presidential nomination, US media reported based on initial counting of votes. Republican frontrunner John McCain dealt a fatal blow to rival Mitt Romney's White House dreams. With the win, McCain has virtually sealed his position as leader for his party's presidential nomination.

Romney, who had a disappointing show in the Super Tuesday primaries, had been hoping to turn the tide by winning the state, which has 170 delegates.

Source : PTI