Dawn Crawford vs Dirty County Politicians and  Officials

By Chris Levister

The race for the Democratic prize soldiers on. Hillary Rodham Clinton scored comeback primary wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island Tuesday night, denting Barack Obama's delegate lead in a riveting Democratic primary contest. Clinton hinted at the possibility of sharing the ticket with her on top. Obama played down the losses, stressing he still holds the lead in the number of delegates. Arizona Sen. John McCain, an unflinching supporter of the war in Iraq, clinched the Republican nomination.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton celebrates Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio after scoring big comeback.

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

But Obama won Vermont gaining 60 percent of the vote and came away with a large share of delegates, too, in counting that continued Wednesday. He maintains a lead that analysts predict will be tough to overcome. In the four-state competition for pledged delegates, Clinton picked up 155, to 137 for Obama.

The two rivals also competed for support in Texas caucuses that began 15 minutes after the state's primary polls closed. Early results show Obama leading Clinton, in caucus tallies with 32 delegates at stake.

"We have nearly the same delegate lead as we did before the primaries and we are on our way to winning this nomination," Obama told supporters in Texas.

Both Democrats called McCain - a fellow Senate colleague - to congratulate him on his win in the Republican race.

71-year-old McCain surpassed the 1,191 delegates needed to win his party's nomination completing a comeback that began in the snows of New Hampshire eight weeks ago. President Bush invited him to lunch - and an endorsement at the White House.

White women and Latinos, groups that favored Clinton in earlier primaries, cast nearly two thirds of the Election Day votes in Texas, according to exit polls.  African-Americans, who have voted heavily for Obama this year, accounted for nearly 39 percent of the primary vote in Texas and accounted for roughly 20 percent of the votes cast in Ohio, approximately the same as four years ago.

The economy was the number one concern on the minds of Democratic voters in Texas, Rhode Island and especially Ohio which has lost millions of jobs during the Bush presidency.  But in Vermont, almost as many voters said the war in Iraq was their top concern.

Sen. Barack Obama tells supporters in Texas, “this is no knock out blow, we’re going on to win.”

Analysts say the four-state primaries and caucuses failed to deliver the knock out blow Obama hoped for or the decisive victory Clinton needed to win the nomination. The two will soldier on to upcoming contests in Mississippi and Wyoming.

For his part Obama is already advertising in Mississippi which holds its primary next week.  The two rivals face primaries in delegate rich Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana, states with heavy working class and African-American populations.