FALLS CHURCH, VA. — Barack Obama piled up three more commanding wins Tuesday -- in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia -- establishing the onetime underdog as the front-runner in the Democratic presidential race against Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Obama stacked his victories on top of several wins over the weekend, pushing his record to 8-0 since he and Clinton in effect fought to a draw last week on Super Tuesday. Significantly, the Illinois senator also pulled ahead of Clinton in delegates to the party's national nominating convention, according to a tally kept by the Associated Press.
Combined, Obama's performance put a strong breeze at his back and increased pressure on Clinton, who faced new campaign turmoil Tuesday, to reverse her fortunes when six more states pick delegates over the next three weeks.
On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain of Arizona moved closer to clinching the nomination, winning all three contests over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
But McCain struggled in Virginia, where a heavy turnout of evangelical Christian voters helped buoy Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister. The former governor also overwhelmingly won Virginians who identified themselves as conservatives, pointing to continued resistance toward McCain among many of the GOP's base voters.
Obama's victories marked the first time in six weeks of balloting that either Democratic candidate has strung together so many successive wins. For a time, they traded triumphs every week or so. But Obama started to broaden his support in the last few rounds; he continued to make inroads Tuesday.
He carried Latinos in Virginia and women and lower-income voters in Virginia and Maryland; all have been vital constituencies for Clinton. At the same time, Obama continued to show tremendous strength among African Americans as he bids to become the nation's first black president; on Tuesday, he won nearly 9 in 10 black votes in Maryland and Virginia, according to exit polls conducted for a consortium of news organizations.
Obama easily bested Clinton in both states among Democrats most concerned about the economy and the war in Iraq. Clinton edged Obama among those most concerned about healthcare.
"Every week that goes by, people get a little more comfortable with him, and he gets a little stronger," said Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster not aligned in the race. But, he cautioned, "this thing is not over."
