Barack sweeps Potomac primaries

Barack Obama swept to victory in all three Democratic primaries held on Tuesday - in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Following Saturday's three wins, the results take Obama ahead of his rival Hillary Clinton in terms of delegates committed to voting for him at the August party convention.

As The First Post's Alexander Cockburn writes today: "Voters savaged the Clinton campaign's assertions that Barack Obama could only win in small caucuses with support from blacks and liberal yuppies... Six stinging reversals in four days have made Obama into the acknowledged front-runner."

Mrs Clinton must now focus her efforts on races in Ohio and Texas on 4 March. At a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday night, she put on a brave face, saying her message would "sweep across Texas in the next three weeks", despite another membner of her campaign team, Mike Henry, stepping down.

In the Republican primaries, John McCain took a clean sweep of all three, beating Mike Huckabee by wide margins in DC (68-17) and Maryland (55-29). The race was closer in Virginia, McCain winning by 50-41. Huckabee is expected to come under renewed pressure to pull out of the race to allow for McCain's coronation.

FIRST POSTED FEBRUARY 13, 2008