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In Virginia, Results Signal A State in Play for November
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Northern Virginia Republican leaders said last night that despite the numbers, McCain's status as the putative nominee remains unchanged. "It's time for us to get behind McCain," Fairfax County Republican Chairman James Hyland said. "You're either for McCain or you risk handing over the White House to a very liberal element of the Democratic party."
In the District, Obama captured 75 percent of the vote. The turnout was high but well below the city's record of 49 percent for a presidential primary -- in 1984, when Jesse Jackson was running. McCain topped Huckabee in the District, with 68 percent of the small GOP vote.
Ward 3, which is in Northwest Washington and has a tradition of activism among white women, was thought to be an area where Clinton could go toe-to-toe with Obama. But yesterday, the predominantly white and affluent ward looked like Obama territory based on the sheer numbers of signs and poll volunteers, said D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), who has endorsed Clinton.
"I'm getting a sense in Ward 3 that she'll run competitively, but she may lose," Cheh said before noon.
In Maryland, even Clinton supporters said they weren't really surprised by the size of Obama's lead in a state with a high proportion of African American voters and liberal whites in the Washington suburbs.
"If this tells us anything, it's that black folks are the spine of the Democratic Party here," said former Prince George's county executive Wayne K. Curry, who endorsed Clinton. "Maybe this is the lesson that drives it home."
Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D), an Obama supporter, said he never doubted that there would be a high turnout among African Americans for Obama. He said he felt an energy surrounding Obama's campaign that he has not felt before during an election.
"It was like a Super Bowl level of excitement," Ivey said. "People are talking about it in the grocery stores, in schools. It's amazing. It really is."
Obama took almost 80 percent of the vote in Baltimore and almost two-thirds in the Washington suburbs of Prince George's and Montgomery counties.
Ron Lester, a pollster and political consultant who lives in Silver Spring, said the region's demographics played a role in Obama's win and in the high voter turnout.
In the District, "you have to throw in the Fenty machine," Lester said, referring to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and his supporters. "They know how to get out the vote. They have an apparatus that is effective."
In Maryland. O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (Md.) were among Clinton's biggest supporters. The big winners were first-term Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), who led Obama's Maryland campaign.
Kaine was among the first governors to endorse Obama. Also figuring prominently in Obama's Virginia campaign is Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, the state's sole African American member of Congress.
