Feb 20, 2008 12:39 am US/Eastern
Obama Leaves Little Doubt In Wisconsin
Illinois Senator Rolls, Further Cements Frontrunner Status
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The results are in for Wisconsin and if you're Hillary Clinton, you're not too happy.
By 10:45 p.m., 60 percent of the precincts had reported, with Barack Obama owning 56 percent of the vote, to Clinton's 43 percent, a decisive victory for the Illinois senator, who has seized the momentum in the race for the Democratic nomination for president.
It was sweet vindication for a candidate weathering a bumpy week. Obama emerged before a crowd of 20,000 Texans spoke in triumphant tones.
"Houston, I think we've achieved lift off here!" he told the massive crowd after winning his ninth consecutive contest in the campaign.
He stepped right on Clinton's speech, forcing her off national television five minutes into her own event. It was an act of aggression against a candidate who'd been attacking him relentlessly.
On Tuesday night she took aim at him again as she sought to frame the race.
"It is about picking a president who relies not just on words but work, hard work to get America back to work, that's our goal," Clinton said.
Obama chewed right into Clinton's base Tuesday night, beating her among white voters as well as non-whites. He beat her among male voters almost two to one and split the female vote almost evenly.
On the Republican side, John McCain dusted Mike Huckabee, which was no surprise.
More surprising were the missiles he fired at Obama, referring to him as a "confused candidate."
"I'll fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by eloquent but empty calls for change," McCain said.
Faced with not one but two opponents attacking his lack of experience, Obama lobbed a more general attack on the culture of Washington.
"The problem we face in America is not lack of good ideas, it's that Washington's become a place where good ideas go to die," Obama said.
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