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5 Feb, 2008 15:48

Super Tuesday: D-Day for Clinton and Obama

On Super Tuesday in the United States, 24 states have been voting in the primaries to elect nominees from each party for the presidential vote. While the Republicans have an established frontrunner in John McCain, all eyes are turned to rival Democrats Hi

With its tendency to make or break campaigns, Super Tuesday is generally considered the grand prize of the primary season. 

“Super Tuesday could give us a Republican nominee. On the Democratic side, they're standing toe to toe; they're in for lots of rounds in this fight,” said Leonard Steinhorn, political analyst from the American University in Washington DC.

But the tone of the fight has changed. Instead of the mudslinging we saw earlier in the campaign, both Hillary and Obama have moved to a more sophisticated approach. The question now is who stands a better chance of defeating John McCain, the potential winner on the Republican side. Hillary claims Obama can't do it, but he has a different view. 

Meanwhile, the pro-Obama wave is not nearly as strong as the anti-Hillary movement on Facebook.

The Stop Hillary Clinton website with more than 400, 000 members has already surpassed Barack Obama's. 

“Hillary is a very divisive candidate in American politics. Those young voters who remember the kind of divisive nature of Clinton’s presidency are turning to Barack Obama,” explains political correspondent Josh Kraushaar.

Some Republicans have vowed to vote for Obama. 'Republicans for Obama' is a new group supporting the man who could be America's first black president. They claim he is the one who can unite people across party lines. 

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton might soon be getting her Republican endorsement from the Republican political commentator Ann Coulter. Known for her confrontational style, Coulter likes to stir up the pot with irony and sarcasm. She came under attack after calling John Edwards anti-gay. 

Coulter says she will not only vote, but campaign for Hillary if McCain wins the Republican nomination.

Hillary, like McCain, voted in support of the troop surge in Iraq, a key issue for the Republican Party.

John McCain – a Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war – has so far managed to convince at least some fellow Republicans that he is the man for the top job. But his pro-war rhetoric may make it harder to reach out to independent or Democratic voters. Most of them will be deciding who is the candidate best equipped to fight against McCain.

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