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'I think we've achieved lift-off here.' - MR OBAMA, addressing a rally crowd in Houston -- PHOTO: AP
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MILWAUKEE - MR BARACK Obama swept the Wisconsin primary and the Hawaii Democratic caucuses, giving him 10 straight triumphs over a fading Hillary Clinton in their epic struggle for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The results of the two races on Tuesday also showed Mr Obama cutting into Mrs Clinton's long-held support among women, union members and middle-aged voters.
Mr Obama won his native state of Hawaii by outdrawing Mrs Clinton among voters who turned out in record numbers at caucus sites across Hawaii.
Hours earlier, the Illinois senator scored a double-digit win over Mrs Clinton in the Wisconsin primary, winning 58 per cent of the vote to her 41 per cent.
Mrs Clinton's candidacy now hangs on the March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas, as well as Pennsylvania on April 22. Her advisers say she must win by strong margins to be a formidable rival to Mr Obama for their party's nomination.
'I think we've achieved lift-off here,' said Mr Obama as he addressed a delirious rally crowd in Houston, which hosts Nasa's mission control for US space missions, as he set a rhetorical course towards the Nov 4 presidential vote.
As thousands of supporters cheered, he exhorted Texans to give him another major boost in the race for the nomination: 'The change we seek is still months and miles away, and we need the good people of Texas to help us get there.
'We will need you to fight for every delegate it takes to win this nomination.'
Mr Obama has now won 10 straight primaries and caucuses since he battled Mrs Clinton to a split decision in the 22 Democratic contests on Feb 5, Super Tuesday.
Mrs Clinton made no mention of her defeat and showed no sign of surrender yesterday as she pressed her case that Mr Obama offered little more than talk.
'It's about picking a president who relies not just on words, but on work, hard work, to get America back to work,' she said at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio. 'Someone who's not just in the speeches business.'
The New York senator did her best to push on, bluntly challenging Mr Obama on his fitness to lead. 'Only one of us is ready on Day One to be commander-in-chief, ready to manage our economy, and ready to defeat the Republicans,' she said.
But in a clear sign of their relative standing in the race, most cable TV networks abruptly cut away from coverage of Mrs Clinton's rally when Mr Obama began to speak in Texas.
Wisconsin offered 74 national convention delegates. There were 20 delegates at stake in Hawaii, where Mr Obama spent much of his youth.
Mr Obama's Wisconsin victory left him with 1,319 delegates in an Associated Press count, compared with Mrs Clinton's 1,245, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as super-delegates.
It takes 2,025 delegates to win the nomination at the party's national convention in Denver.
Even before Wisconsin and Hawaii, Mr Obama held a lead over his rival in delegates awarded in the primaries and caucuses.
Given Democratic rules that award delegates proportionally, Mr Obama's slowly expanding margin will become more difficult for Mrs Clinton to overcome unless she can win upcoming contests by huge margins.
All eyes will be on a debate between the two candidates tonight in Austin. Their last face-off was before the Feb5 Super Tuesday contests.
Mrs Clinton's campaign sees tonight's debate, and a second one next Tuesday in Cleveland, as her best opportunity to shift voters away from talk of Mr Obama's growing momentum.
NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES-WASHINGTON POST, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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