Clinton and McCain win in primaries
Clinton wins in Nevada, John McCain victorious in the South Carolina primary.
In focus |
In Nevada, Clinton won 51 per cent of the votes compared to Obama’s 45 per cent. John Edwards trailed in third with four per cent.
“I just want to say how grateful I am to Nevada and all of the people who worked so hard in this campaign,” Clinton said in Las Vegas.
“I guess this is how the West was won.”
Clinton will hope the victory gives her momentum in the tight nomination battle with Obama to select the Democratic candidate for the presidential election in November.
‘Uplifting campaign’
The two had split the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Clinton and Obama, an Illinois senator, both complained of voting irregularities in the hours before and after the vote in Nevada.
Clinton led polls in the state for months heading into the contest, but Obama had been lifted by the endorsement of a powerful labour union that represents about 60,000 workers in the state’s tourist hotels.
“We ran an honest, uplifting campaign in Nevada that focused on the real problems Americans are facing, a campaign that appealed to people’s hopes instead of their fears,” Obama said in a statement.
“That’s the campaign we’ll take to South Carolina and across America in the weeks to come.”
Low turnout
Romney’s convincing win in Nevada followed his breakthrough victory in Michigan last week.
He won 51 per cent, with Ron Paul a distant second on 13 per cent, the same figure as John McCain in third.
The former governor of Massachusetts issued while he flew to Florida to campaign for that state’s primary on January 29.
McCain victory
In a speech, McCain thanked his supporters for handing him the victory, eight year after the primary in 2000, where he lost to George W. Bush, the current president, in a campaign filled with smears and allegations.
He said: “Thank you, my friends, and thank you, South Carolina, for bringing us across the finish line first, in the first-in-the-south primary. It took us a while, but what’s eight years among friends.”
“In the course of this campaign, I have tried as best I could, to tell people the truth about the challenges facing our country, and how I intend to address them.”
“I have tried to do that throughout this campaign, and to put my trust in your willingness to give me your fair consideration. So far, it seems to be working out just fine.”
McCain refuses to consider himself a front-runner for the Republican nomination, despite the South Carolina victory [Reuters] |