Hillary wins, split Democrats count their losses

row. Clinton showed again that she is a tenacious campaigner with an ability to connect with the blue-collar voters Obama has found elusive and who could be critical to a Democratic victory in November.

Clinton’s margin was probably not sufficient to fundamentally alter the dynamics of the race, which continued to favour an eventual victory for Obama. But it made clear that the contest will go on at least a few weeks, if not more. And it served to underline the concerns about Obama’s strengths as a general election candidate. Exit polls again highlighted the racial, economic, sex and values divisions within the party.

To take one example, only 60 per cent of Democratic Catholic voters said they would vote for Obama in a general election; 21 per cent said they would vote for McCain, exit polls show.

“This is exactly what I was afraid was going to happen,” said Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat who has not endorsed anyone in the race. “They are going to just keep standing there and pounding each other and bloodying each other, and no one is winning. It underlines the need to find some way to bring this to conclusion.”

The Democratic Party, so energised and optimistic just a few months ago, thus finds itself in a position few would have expected: a nomination battle unresolved, with two candidates engaged in increasingly damaging attacks. At a time when the Democratic Party would dearly like to turn its attention to McCain, it now faces continued damage to the images of both Clinton and Obama.

That said, the fears confronting Democrats could be swept away reasonably soon. Even with her comfortable victory on Tuesday, Clinton still faces significant, though certainly not insurmountable, hurdles to securing the nomination, and it remains possible that her candidacy could come to an end in as little as two weeks, when Indiana and North Carolina vote. Should that be the case, the Democratic Party would presumably have the time and the motivation to heal its wounds.

“We have problems going both ways, but that is going to get healed,” said Joe Trippi, who was a senior adviser to the presidential campaign of John Edwards, who quit the race earlier this year. “If it doesn’t get healed, we have problems.”

Still, the voting patterns on Tuesday underlined what has been one of Clinton’s central arguments to Democratic Party leaders in asserting that Obama would have trouble as a general election candidate. Once again, as in Ohio six weeks ago, he is struggling to win support from the kinds of voters that could be critical to a Democratic victory in the fall. Clinton posed the question bluntly on Tuesday.

“Considering his financial advantage, the question ought to be, why can’t he close the deal?” Clinton said outside a polling place in a northern suburb of Philadelphia. “Why can’t he win in a state like this?”

Obama continues to hold a lead over Clinton in the total popular vote cast, as well as in pledged delegates.