Hillary Clinton scores wins in Texas and Ohio

Hillary Clinton revitalized her campaign with wins Tuesday in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island.

With her political back against the wall, Hillary Clinton pulled out game-changing wins in Ohio and Texas Tuesday night, giving new life to her comeback campaign.

With 88% of the precincts counted in Ohio, Clinton was trouncing Barack Obama 55% to 43%, a gap far larger than expected.

In Texas, with 76% of the vote counted, Clinton was edging Obama 51% to 47%. That was enough for networks to declare her the popular-vote winner of the primary - even as caucuses to choose a third of Lone Star State delegates were mired in delays.

In smaller contests, Obama won handily in Vermont, while Clinton sailed to victory in Rhode Island.

While hardly a knockout punch by Clinton - she lost 11 straight primaries heading into Tuesday night - her victories clearly halted Obama's momentum and suggested that Democrats aren't ready to anoint anyone.

"Boy, thank you, Ohio," she told giddy supporters in Columbus. "For everyone who has stumbled but stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up - this one's for you!"

"You know what they say," she added, "as Ohio goes, so goes the nation. Well, this nation is coming back and so is this campaign!"

Before a throng of supporters in San Antonio, Obama later congratulated Clinton for running "a hard-fought race" in Tuesday's contests.

But he added his own spin, noting that even with Clinton's wins, he remains the leader among delegates, who ultimately choose the nominee.

"We know this: No matter what happens tonight, we have nearly the same delegate lead as we did this morning, and we are on our way to winning this nomination," he told supporters.

Clinton's victories assured her a healthy share of the day's delegates, although Obama was right - he is certain to remain the leader among delegates.

The nominee needs 2,025 delegates to win, and before the polls closed Tuesday night he was running 113 votes ahead, 1,389 to 1,276, an Associated Press tally showed.

But the reality is that neither Democrat can now amass enough delegates to win the nomination without help from the 278 superdelegates who remain uncommitted.

Superdelegates are the party big shots and elected officials who can pick a side regardless of the popular vote. The two camps wasted no time Tuesday night in rolling out their best pitches.

Obama strategist David Axelrod noted that as of today, Obama will have won nearly twice as many states.

"So I think those are the indices, sort of mileposts that you want to look at," he told reporters.

But Clinton spokesman Doug Hattaway noted that Clinton had won most of the big states needed to win a general election, and that Clinton had won in Ohio despite being heavily outspent by Obama.

"Some were ready to declare the race over, but the voters had something else in mind," Hattaway said.

The two sides fought tenaciously all night, seeming to play every angle.

Obama's team persuaded an Ohio judge to keep open 15 polling stations in Cleveland - home to many of the state's African-Americans - after bad weather buffeted the city.

But the maneuver seemed to net him little: Early returns showed Clinton battling Obama to a virtual tie there.

In recent days, Clinton's campaign has hammered Obama on national security credentials and trade - hits that some believe have stuck.

Exit polls Tuesday showed that among Texas Dems who made up their mind in the last few days, Clinton was winning 2 to 1.

Experts said that losses in both Texas and Ohio would likely have been fatal for Clinton.

Clinton made it abundantly clear Tuesday night that she is charging ahead to the April 22 primary in Pennsylvania, a position most Democrats apparently support.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll Tuesday found that two-thirds of party members think Clinton should keep fighting if she wins Ohio or Texas.

The Clinton camp argues that defeats anywhere would become a momentum stopper for Obama, but a trio of superdelegates still threw their support behind the Illinois lawmaker Tuesday.

It remains to be seen which way the superdelegate tide will flow now.

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