Last night was another big night for Barack Obama and John McCain:
Sen. Barack Obama won the Wisconsin Democratic primary and the Hawaii caucuses decisively last night, extending his winning streak to ten consecutive contests and dealing another significant blow to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose imperiled presidential candidacy now hangs on the outcome of showdowns in Ohio and Texas in two weeks.
After a week of sparring that included the first negative ads of the campaign, Obama emerged victorious in the critical general-election battleground state of Wisconsin, and was treated to favorite son status with a lopsided win in Hawaii, where he was born. For the second week in a row, the senator from Illinois made inroads into the coalition that Clinton has counted on to carry her to the nomination — women and white working-class voters — while rolling up big margins among white men.
The Hawaii win was largely expected, but in Wisconsin, the final numbers were, once again, impressive. Obama beat Clinton 58% to 41% and, as Drudge notes, beat her in nearly every demographic category:
Wisconsin Exit Polls:
Obama Won:
Women (51-49)
All age groups under 65
All education levels
All regions of the state — urban, suburban and rural
Voters without college degrees (50-48)
Democrats (50-49)
Whites (53-46)
White men (59-38)
Voters who decided in the last week (58-42)Won or tied voters of all income levels
Tied among white women
Tied among union members
Tied among union households
When you think about it, Wisconsin was a state that Clinton should have won easily, or should have been a lot more competitive in. The fact that she wasn’t does not bode well for the bellweather state of Ohio, now only 13 days away.
On the Republican side, John McCain crushed Mike Huckabee in two contests:
In Wisconsin’s Republican primary, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) won an easy victory over former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, moving him ever closer to clinching the party’s nomination. In Washington state’s Republican primary, with 57 percent of the precincts reporting, McCain had more than doubled Huckabee’s vote count, garnering 49 percent compared to 22 percent.
Mike Huckabee must be really bored to be continuing a quixotic quest like this.
