WASHINGTON — Democrat Barack Obama looked to continue his winning streak in three mid-Atlantic presidential primaries Tuesday, while rival Hillary Rodham Clinton turned her attention to a future round of contests. Republican John McCain sought to rebound from two weekend losses to Mike Huckabee and reinforce his position as the inevitable GOP nominee.
Coming off weekend victories in five contests, Obama was favored to win the primaries in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia thanks to a blend of black and better educated voters in those areas, blocs that have aided his wins in earlier matchups against Clinton. Likewise, McCain was favored on the GOP side.
“We need something new,” Obama told a huge rally at the University of Maryland on Monday, dismissing the former first lady’s suggestions that he is not tough enough for the rigors of the presidency.
The Illinois senator was traveling late Tuesday to Wisconsin, which votes next week, along with Hawaii, where Obama grew up.
With the Clinton campaign all but conceding losses Tuesday, as well as in other primaries during the month, the New York senator prepared to fly to Texas, which holds its primary on March 4. She is banking on strong showings there and in Ohio, which votes the same day, to blunt Obama’s momentum.
“I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I would be the best candidate,” Clinton told reporters Monday as she campaigned near Baltimore. “So I’m going forward — every day, we get to make our case to the American people.”
On the Republican side, McCain hoped to rebound with three wins Tuesday en route to his likely nomination. The Arizona senator lost contests in Kansas and Louisiana during the weekend, but managed a narrow win in Washington state caucuses that Huckabee is now challenging.
Early turnout was heavy in Virginia, which does not have party registration so voters can participate in either primary. By 9 a.m., voters had to wait as much as 45 minutes in some localities, Board of Elections spokeswoman Susan Pollard said.
“We have had heavy voter turnout in a variety of different localities throughout the state,” Pollard said. Richmond voter registrar J. Kirk Showalter said, “It’s a good strong turnout.”
Interest in the close Democratic contest was evident from spikes in voter registrations and absentee balloting in the region.
In Virginia, a total of 32,166 people had requested mail absentee ballots by last Tuesday’s deadline, and nearly two-thirds of them were for Democratic primary ballots. In the first two weeks of the year, 37,025 met the Jan. 14 deadline for registering in time to vote in the primaries. Of that, 61 percent of the new registrants were 24 or younger.
In the District, voter registration increased by 34,916 to 377,007 since the presidential primary in January 2004 — and is up more than 93,000 compared with the 2000 primary.
Dozens of people filled the gymnasium at Oyster Elementary School in northwest Washington as voting began at 7 a.m. Eric Sonnenschein, 34, who waited outside the school before the polls opened, said he planned to vote for Clinton but believed both candidates were highly qualified.
“I feel like this is her chance,” Sonnenschein said about Clinton. “I feel like (Obama) will have future chances.”
Both the Clinton and Obama campaigns prepared to launch television ads in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, and added another debate to their schedule — Feb. 21 in Austin, Texas.
In hypothetical general election matchups, a new AP poll conducted after last week’s Super Tuesday contests found Obama edging McCain, 48 percent to 42 percent, while Clinton and the Arizona senator were tied — 46 percent for Clinton to 45 percent for McCain.
Despite what the poll numbers suggest, Clinton’s strategists argued that she would be the stronger competitor against McCain because she has stared down Republicans throughout her career in politics and public service.
Clinton “has withstood the full brunt of this kind of attack and will be able to neutralize what is likely to happen particularly with a nominee who is not as well known,” said strategist Mark Penn
“In a general election the Republicans would spring into action and quickly, if he were the nominee, roll out his full record,” Penn said of Obama.
