News Analysis: March 4 races to be Clinton´s last stronghold?

Source: Xinhua | 03-05-2008 07:59

WASHINGTON, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign hinges on the voters who are heading to the polling stations in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont on Tuesday.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) sits on a tractor during a campaign stop at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston, Texas March 4, 2008.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

For Republican forerunner John McCain, the March 4 is not a "must-win" but possibly a "final win." With 1,047 delegates at hand, the Arizona Senator sees his time coming to win the party's presidential nominee who needs 1,191 or more delegates of the total 2,380.

The populous states of Ohio and Texas will offer 141 delegates and 193 delegates respectively to Democratic candidates on Tuesday, the prize big enough to make difference in deciding the party's presidential nominee.

With 11 straight victories in the primaries and caucuses in the past month, Illinois Senator Barack Obama has accumulated 1,378 delegates, leading New York Senator Clinton by 109 delegates, according to the CNN's statistics.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally in Westerville, Ohio Mar. 2, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Either of them needs to gain 2,025 delegates of the total 4,049 to secure the party's presidential candidacy.

During campaign for his wife in Ohio, former President Bill Clinton told a rally if Clinton wins Ohio and Texas, she will goon to win the nomination.