Reuters: Clinton wins in Ohio, Texas 05 March

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton's hopes of securing the Democratic presidential nomination are riding on a strong showing in Tuesday's primaries in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont. AFPTV looks at the race in Ohio, where Clinton is clinging to a narrow lead in the polls over Barack Obama.

Democratic Senator Barack Obama now has a 10-contest winning streak -- after decisively winning the Wisconsin and Hawaii Democratic Primaries. On the Republican side, John McCain won the Washington state and Wisconsin Republican Primaries over former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee by a significant margin. Jon Decker reports.

Obama is riding a wave of momentum from a sweep of the mid-Atlantic primaries this week. The delegate rich states of Texas and Ohio hold their primaries on March 4th.

This is his 9th straight victory over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in their battle for the party's presidential nomination.

The Illinois senator ran on a campaign of change and against what he called the partisan climate in American politics. Obama's win has dealt a setback to national front-runner New York Senator Hillary Clinton in the first nominating contest of the 2008 U.S presidential election and gives him momentum as he heads into the January 8th primary vote in New Hampshire, where polls showed him in a tight race with Clinton.

Obama trounced his Democratic rival, taking 61 percent of the vote to Clinton's 37 percent. Exit polls showed that about 90 percent of African-Americans backed Obama, who is trying to become America's first black president. The victory in Mississippi extended Obama's lead over Hillary Clinton in pledged delegates to the August nominating convention. The next big showdown is in Pennsylvania in six weeks time. With 158 delegates at stake, it's the biggest single-state haul remaining in the race for the nomination.

Among Republicans, John McCain holds substantial double-digit leads over Mike Huckabee in both Ohio and Texas. McCain could come close to clinching the Republican nomination with big wins in both states. Jon Decker reports.

The Ohio and Texas primaries are seen widely as a make or break scenario for Clinton's candidacy. Even Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has said she needs to win both states to continue her campaign, a view shared by many analysts. Polls show tight races in both.

With 99 percent of the precincts' official reports in for the Democrats, Obama received 37 percent of the vote, followed by former vice presidential nominee John Edwards with 30 percent and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York with 29 percent.