Democrats clash in crucial debate

The two rivals held their second debate in five days

The two main Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have accused each other of negative campaigning in a TV debate.

The two White House hopefuls also attacked each other's policies on health care, trade and foreign policy, including the Iraq war.

It was their final face-to-face encounter before next week's crucial primaries in Ohio and Texas.

Mr Obama has won the previous 11 primaries and caucuses.

Analysts say Mrs Clinton needs to win a majority of delegates in both states to stay in the race to choose the Democratic candidate at the national nominating convention in August, ahead of the November elections.

Blame game

Accusations of dirty tricks and negative campaigning have dogged the past week of the nomination race.

In the opening minutes of the televised debate in Cleveland, Ohio, the two politely but firmly accused each other of spreading misinformation about their policies.

"The charges that Senator Obama's campaign has made regarding fliers and mailers and other information that he has been putting out about my health care plan and my position on Nafta (the North America Free Trade Agreement) have been very disturbing to me," Mrs Clinton said.

Mr Obama retorted that his rival's campaign had "constantly sent out negative attacks on us... We haven't whined about it because I understand that's the nature of these campaigns."

Both insisted they stood for universal healthcare, and that the other's programme would leave some people without cover.

Mr Obama sought to draw a line, however, under the appearance of a controversial photograph of him wearing traditional Somali robes during a visit to Kenya in 2006.

He said he believed Mrs Clinton when she said she did not know where the photo had come from.

Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama went on to say that they would both seek to renegotiate Nafta with Canada and Mexico, under threat of opting out of the 14-year-old pact.

Many workers in Ohio and other states hard-hit by factory closures blame the deal for job losses.

It was on foreign policy that there was the strongest contrast between the two candidates.

Mrs Clinton repeated her stance that her qualifications and experience as former first lady and New York senator put her in the best position to be the next commander-in-chief.

Mr Obama replied that experience should not be confused with longevity in Washington, saying Mrs Clinton's vote in favour of authorising the war in Iraq in 2002 was a massive strategic blunder.

Obama momentum

It was hard to define an outright winner of the debate, says our correspondent, but there was nothing to suggest Mrs Clinton did enough to turn the tide that has been moving in Mr Obama's favour.

Mrs Clinton now needs to win a majority of the delegates in the remaining state primaries and caucuses to stay in the race to choose the Democratic candidate for November's presidential election.

Ohio and Texas, both big states, are being seen as must wins for her.

Several polls suggest Mr Obama is gaining ground in both Texas and Ohio. The Illinois senator is leading in Texas for the first time, with 50% compared to 46% for Mrs Clinton, according to a CNN poll.

On Tuesday, Mr Obama won endorsement from a former rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Christopher Dodd.

On the Republican side, front-runner John McCain has also been campaigning in Ohio, as the party prepares to hold its own primary in the state, also on 4 March.

Obama extends lead over Clinton

Barack Obama is riding a wave of momentum after a series of wins

Barack Obama has gained more ground over his rival, Hillary Clinton, in the contest to win the Democratic nomination to run for US president.

Mr Obama, the senator for Illinois, has won the primary in Wisconsin, and is also projected to take victory in Hawaii - his 10th win in a row.

John McCain won Wisconsin for the Republicans, boosting his front-runner status in his party's contest.

Mr McCain is also projected to win a Republican primary in Washington state.

With 99% of the ballots counted in Wisconsin, Mr Obama had 58% of the vote to Mrs Clinton's 41%.

The state has 74 Democratic delegates at stake. The Associated Press news agency said Mr Obama was projected to win at least 38 of them, and Mrs Clinton 27, with nine still to be awarded.

Meanwhile, with 51% of votes counted in Hawaii, where the Illinois senator was born, he had taken 76% of the vote, leading AP and CNN to project victory.

The state has 20 delegates up for grabs.

Seeking momentum

The BBC's Jonathan Beale says Wisconsin was a significant victory for Mr Obama, eating into Mrs Clinton's support base.

It is a major disappointment for Mrs Clinton, the senator for New York, who had been hoping to restore momentum to her campaign.

Democrats

Republicans

Hillary Clinton
13 states, 1,218 delegates

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee

Barack Obama
21 states, 1,281 delegates

Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington state, Wisconsin
2,025 delegates needed for nomination. Source AP (includes all kinds of delegates)

Mike Huckabee
8 states, 245 delegates

Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee, West Virginia, Kansas, Louisiana

John McCain
15 states, 903 delegates

Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington state

Mitt Romney
11 states, 253 delegates

Campaign suspended
Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah
1,191 delegates needed for nomination. Source: AP (includes all kinds of delegates)

Instead, Mr Obama was reported to have gained almost equal support from white women, and to have polled well from working-class Democrats - both groups which have usually supported Mrs Clinton.

Mr Obama also took the youth vote and six out of 10 self-described independent voters, according to exit polls for ABC.

But he and Mrs Clinton are already looking ahead to March's bigger contests in Ohio and Texas, seen by analysts as crucial to her credibility as a candidate.

Speaking at a victory rally in Houston, Texas, Mr Obama said: "The change we seek is still months and miles away and we need to get all of Texas to help us get there."

Addressing a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Mrs Clinton said the primary campaign was "about picking a president who relies not just on words but on work - hard work to get America back to work".

Before the results from Wisconsin were calculated, Mr Obama held a slight lead over Mrs Clinton, with 1,280 delegates to her 1,218.

It will take 2,025 delegates to secure the Democratic nomination at the party's national convention this summer.

McCain favourite

Mr McCain, the senator for Arizona, appeared to target Mr Obama in his victory speech as he promised to ensure Americans were "not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change".

On the Republican side, the race between Mr McCain and Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, continues.

Mr McCain now has almost four times as many delegates as his main rival, Mike Huckabee.

With 97% of the vote counted in Wisconsin, he led with 54.8% of the vote compared with 37% for Mr Huckabee and 5% for Texas Congressman Ron Paul. There are 40 Republican delegates at stake.

Early exit polls for AP suggested Mr McCain had made headway with some core Republican voters, beating Mr Huckabee overwhelmingly for the support of moderate Republicans.

The Washington Republican primary is the second vote in a two-part nominating contest - half their delegates were decided earlier in a caucus on 9 February, which was narrowly won by Mr McCain.

With 53% of Tuesday's vote counted, Mr McCain had amassed 48% to Mr Huckabee's 21% and Mr Paul's 7%.

Washington state's Democrats are also holding a primary but their delegates to the party's summer nominating convention have already been chosen on the basis of caucuses.

Democrats vote in South Carolina

Hillary Clinton has kept a lower profile in this stage of the campaign

Polls have opened in South Carolina for Democratic Party voters in the state to choose their party's candidate for this year's US presidential elections.

Barack Obama has a comfortable lead in the opinion polls ahead of Hillary Clinton, with John Edwards third.

This is the final contest for the Democrats before Super Tuesday in 10 days' time, when more than 20 states will vote in primary contests.

Republicans are campaigning for their next contest in Florida on Tuesday.

In a televised debate at the start of this week, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, clashed over their records, with what the BBC's Kevin Connolly says was a touch of real nastiness.

Edwards needs a good result to stay in the race

Mr Obama accused Mrs Clinton of saying anything to get elected, after earlier accusing her husband Bill Clinton of making false statements about him.

For her part, Mrs Clinton told Mr Obama it was hard to debate with someone who never took responsibility for any vote he cast.

Our correspondent says there seems little doubt that Mr Obama will win.

The idea of the first African-American nominee of a major party also is exhilarating, and so is the prospect of the first woman nominee New York Times

Around half of the registered Democrats in South Carolina are African-Americans, and most are expected to support him.

On Thursday, the New York Times formally endorsed Mrs Clinton as its preferred Democratic candidate for the White House.

It said it was hugely impressed by Mrs Clinton's knowledge, the force of her intellect and her experience.

"The idea of the first African-American nominee of a major party also is exhilarating, and so is the prospect of the first woman nominee," it said in an editorial. "'Firstness' is not a reason to choose."

'Thin-skinned'

A win by a comfortable margin for Mr Obama would help dull the memory of Mrs Clinton's recent victories in primaries in New Hampshire and Nevada. Mrs Clinton has spent part of the week campaigning elsewhere signalling that she is not expecting to win.

In her absence her husband loomed larger in the campaign, attacking Mr Obama as thin-skinned and inexperienced.

The third candidate John Edwards won South Carolina in his failed run for the presidential nomination in 2004 but he has no real chance of winning this time.

This, our correspondent says, raises further doubts about how long he will stay in the race.