Democrat candidates just running to stand still

TURNOUT was high as New Yorkers kicked off before dawn the 24-state primary bonanza which rippled across the US before the last polls closed in California at 4am Irish time and in Alaska at 5am.

A husky-voiced Senator Clinton, 60, vowed to fight on through polling day, even as opinion surveys picked up a surge by Mr Obama, the 46-year- old Illinois senator vying to deny her a return to the White House.

“There are a lot of people who worry that the president just doesn’t pay attention,” the former first lady said yesterday.