Obama, McCain look strong for primaries Hillary Clinton remains positive about her position

Sen. McCain appeared unconcerned by his weak showing over the weekend.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Barack Obama appeared poised Monday to trounce Hillary Clinton in today’s “Potomac primary,” as polls showed him with huge leads in Maryland and Virginia.

Obama, fresh from five weekend wins over Clinton in Louisiana, Washington state, Nebraska, Maine and the U.S. Virgin Islands, is hoping to add enough of the 168 delegates who are at stake in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to unknot the two Democrats’ virtual tie. He also hopes that big wins today will enhance his campaign’s momentum ahead of the showdowns March 4 in Texas and Ohio.

Clinton, who campaigned Monday at a General Motors transmission plant in suburban Baltimore, tried to project that she was strong and on the march.

“I feel good about where we are,” the New York senator said, reminding her audience that “I’m still ahead in the popular vote and delegates.”

However, while Clinton tried to sound upbeat, her campaign tried in advance to discount the impact of today’s primaries by focusing on March 4. Meanwhile, an enthusiastic crowd of about 17,500 greeted Obama at the University of Maryland’s Comcast Center.

“It looks like we’re having March madness a little early,” the Illinois senator told supporters at the basketball arena. He talked about cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, ending the Iraq war and taking on Clinton.

The audience was wowed. “Amazing. He’s an inspiring figure,” said Wayne Shaw, 37, a project manager for a satellite communications company.

On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain is expected today to add to his big delegate lead over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

McCain’s strengths in the region are clear: Maryland and Virginia have large military and veteran populations. In Virginia, registered voters can vote in either party’s primary, and polls have found that McCain’s popularity among independents should help him.

McCain appeared unconcerned by his weak showing over the weekend, when he lost Louisiana and Kansas to Huckabee and barely won Washington state in a caucus whose outcome Huckabee is challenging.

“I never expected a unanimous vote, although I’d certainly like to have that. ... I have something close to 800 delegates, and last time I checked, Governor Huckabee had very few,” McCain said in Annapolis, Maryland’s capital. “So I think I’m pretty happy with the situation, although I recognize we have a lot of work to do.”

Clinton once had hopes of doing well in Maryland and Virginia. In Maryland, she had the backing of two of the state’s most powerful Democrats, Gov. Martin O’Malley and veteran Sen. Barbara Mikulski.

However, a SurveyUSA poll taken Thursday and Friday found Obama with a 19 percentage-point lead, including a 71 percent to 18 percent advantage among blacks, who are expected to make up about 40 percent of Maryland’s electorate.

In Virginia, Clinton’s fortunes seemed a smidgen less bleak, as a Mason-Dixon poll released Sunday found Obama ahead by 16 points. An 82 percent to 9 percent advantage among black voters, who’re expected to account for about 30 percent of today’s total, is fueling his popularity.

“Of the two states, Clinton probably has a better shot in Virginia,” said Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.

He cited the working class, largely rural communities in southwest Virginia as potential Clinton country. But about half the state’s Democratic vote is expected to come from the eastern side of the state, where Obama has a huge lead.

Clinton’s camp tried Monday to persuade voters and analysts to look beyond not only today’s contests but also Wisconsin’s primary Feb. 19, even though last week’s American Research Group poll gave her a 9-point lead there. She and her aides said she’d focus primarily March 4, when Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island vote. A total of 370 delegates will be at stake then.