Clinton heralds 'turning point' in campaign

Hilary Clinton said today her victories in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island yesterday marked a "turning point" in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Her three triumphs ended a month of defeats for the former first lady, and she told jubilant supporters, "We're going on, we're going strong and we're going all the way."

But her rival Barack Obama insisted he remained the front-runner for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination today despite his losses in Texas and Ohio.

Both candidates set out their interpretation of last night's results on the early morning US TV shows in a bid to show their campaign was the one worth backing.

Mrs Clinton said it was a "turning point" in the historical campaign and even suggested she would accept Mr Obama as her vice presidential running mate.

But it is the young Illinois senator who leads the race and the complex system of US elections means it will be virtually impossible for the former First Lady to change that in the primary season.

In the Republican contest, John McCain swept Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island, giving the battle-scarred former Vietnam prisoner of war enough delegates to officially secure the party's nomination.

As the counting continued in the Texas Democratic caucuses today, Mr Obama said: "We still have an insurmountable lead. "We're very confident about where we're going to be and that we can win the nomination and the general election."

He has said Mrs Clinton used a "kitchen sink strategy" as she threw a series of negative political attacks at him in the run-up to Tuesday's elections and said today her campaign "just keeps ticking".

Mr Obama said his campaign emerged "with essentially the same delegate count we had going in and feel confident that we're going to be able to go on to the nomination".

Before the results had even come in, Mr Obama had turned his focus to the general election and Mr McCain.

Speaking in San Antonio, Texas, he said Mr McCain may claim "a long history of straight-talk and independent thinking" but in this campaign "he has fallen in line with the very same policies that have ill-served America".

"He has seen where George Bush has taken this country and he promises to keep us on the very same course," Mr Obama said to a chorus of boos.

He used his speech to answer his critics in both parties as he said: "John McCain and Hillary Clinton have echoed each other, dismissing this call for change as eloquent but empty, speeches not solutions."

But he said his call for change did not begin with his words, but with Americans across the nation calling for change. Mr Obama said he was calling for a change which would allow young Americans to go abroad and hold their head high when people asked where they came from.

Ms Clinton suggested today that the Democratic race may be resolved with a joint ticket between her and her rival.

She told CBS's The Early Show: "That may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me."

And she told CNN's American Morning: "This campaign has turned a corner. It is now about who is strongest against the Republican John McCain. "I've got a lifetime of experience, Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience.

© 2008 ireland.com