Nevada victory shifts momentum to Hillary

POLITICAL momentum has shifted to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Nevada’s presidential caucuses gave Ms Clinton a big boost, powering her to a second straight win over Barack Obama in the first western contest of 2008. She fared better than Mr Obama among women, as she did in New Hampshire, and showed significant strength among hispanic voters.

But Mr Obama won decisively among black voters, who could account for more than 50% of the voters in South Carolina’s primary next Saturday. And Nevada’s likely delegate count appeared to be almost evenly split between the two, indicating a protracted delegate battle yet to come.

Ms Clinton acknowledged the excruciatingly tight race before departing Nevada, calling her win “one step on a long journey”.

The Nevada results still spelled trouble for Mr Obama, whose stunning victory in Iowa on January 3 has begun to fade amid evidence of his vulnerability among important demographic groups, especially white, working-class Democrats and women.

He tried to remedy that in Nevada, holding economic roundtables with women voters and bringing in his popular wife, Michelle, to campaign with him. But women outnumbered men among caucus-goers, and a sizeable majority went with Ms Clinton. Mr Obama is now under greater pressure to win South Carolina, while Ms Clinton is hoping to hold her own there.

Polls in South Carolina have shown black voters shifting to Mr Obama despite longtime loyalty to the Clintons and particularly to Bill, who was once described as the first black president.

With her Nevada win, campaign officials say she will campaign hard this week in South Carolina and hope for a strong enough showing to pick up a sizeable number of the state’s delegates.