No Rain on Clinton's Parade

Rivers were not the only things flooding in Ohio yesterday, as a record number of voters flooded the polls to support their presidential hopefuls, despite the rain storms. After it was all said and done, both Hillary Clinton and John McCain found themselves floating on top.

McCain
Senator McCain's victories in Ohio and Texas gave him enough GOP delegates to win the Republican nomination. He won Ohio with 60% of the total vote. Governor Mike Huckabee was left in the dust. Huckabee announced today that he has officially withdrawn from the race. McCain’s victory has put an end to a Republican race that drew very little voter participation in this GOP state compared to the Democratic Party. Overall the state shattered all previous primary records with a 45-percent voter turnout and had a strong turnout among young voters.


Dan Leister, OU Political Science major talks about helping to bring out voters in Athens.


Britney Drimmelsman volunteered at the Fox News Election Party at Ohio University’s Baker Center.

Clinton
And most of those voters, whether they were registered Republicans or Democrats,voted in the Democratic Presidential Primary. Senator Clinton was the favorite coming into the election, and she won the state with 54% of the total vote. Women played a role in Clinton's success. Women made up 59% of the democratic votes. Of those women, almost 60% voted for Clinton. She was painted the favorite because of the support she has from the “Lunch-Box Voters” - - made up of working class people and labor unions.

What's Next?
Barack Obama still has more delegates than Hillary Clinton, but Clinton’s recent victories in Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas closed the gap. Currently, Obama has 1,451 delegates. Clinton has 1,365. The magic number to win the nomination is 2,025. However, with a little more than 600 delegates still up for grabs, neither candidate is guaranteed to cross the victory line with primary delegates, which means that the Democratic Race could be decided by the Superdelegates.

Superdelegates automatically have a say in who gets the nomination because of their role as political operatives or elected officials. They make up about one-fifth of the total number of delegates. They can support whomever they choose, no matter what the primary or caucus results were in their state. As of today, Hillary Clinton holds more Superdelegate support than Barack Obama. Clinton has accumulated 238 Superdelegates. Obama has 194.

So far, it has been a competitive battle for the Democrats and there is still a long and winding road ahead. The next Democratic primary election is in Wyoming on March 8. Although Wyoming will not make or break the overall election, it does give Senator Obama a chance to regain the momentum he had going into Ohio and Texas. For Senator Clinton, it could mean keeping her new momentum alive as the candidates look ahead to the next big prize, Pennsylvania primaries on April 22.