News Analysis: Will Super Tuesday end U.S. presidential nomination race?

Until now, McCain led the Republican camp with 97 delegates in hand, followed by Romney with 92 delegates and former Arkansas governor Huckabee with 29, the CNN said.

Supported by super delegates, Clinton exceeded Obama in the competition for delegates by 232 to 158, although she obtained 48 delegates by winning state primaries and caucuses, 15 fewer than Obama, according to CNN.

Even though any candidate's lead on Super Tuesday clearly reveals that it is strong enough to carry him or her to the nomination convention, CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said the post-Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses are likely to offer a setting for the final phase of the nomination process.

"Past campaigns have seen a reverse bandwagon effect. When a candidate gets close to winning the nomination, the bandwagon doesn't speed up. It slows down," Schneider said. "Voters in the late primaries say, 'Oh my god! What have we done.'"

Foreseeing this possibility, Romney and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee insisted that they will stay in the race to await the final winner even if McCain prevails on Super Tuesday.

The biggest primary day in U.S. history began at 1100 GMT Tuesday as voters cast their ballots in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It will wrap up as the last voting closes in California 17 hours later at 0400 GMT Wednesday, leaving candidates a long day to await the results that could decide their fates on their road to the White House.

 

Editor:Du