Obama wins big in Wash., Nebraska, La.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama swept the Louisiana primary and caucuses in Nebraska and Washington state Saturday, boosting his slim delegate lead over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in their historic race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Illinois senator also won caucuses in the Virgin Islands, completing his best night of the campaign.

"Today, voters from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast to the heart of America stood up to say 'yes we can'" Obama told a cheering audience of Democrats at a party dinner in Richmond, Va.

He jabbed simultaneously at Clinton and Arizona Sen. John McCain, saying the election was a choice between debating the Republican nominee-in-waiting "about who has the most experience in Washington, or debating him about who's most likely to change Washington. Because that's a debate we can win."

Clinton preceded Obama to the podium. She did not refer to the night's voting, instead turning against McCain. "We have tried it President Bush's way," she said, "and now the Republicans have chosen more of the same."

She left quickly after her speech, departing before Obama's arrival. But his supporters made their presence known, sending up chants of "Obama" from the audience as she made her way offstage.

Obama's winning margins ranged from substantial to crushing.

He won roughly two-thirds of the vote in Washington state and Nebraska, and almost 90 percent in the Virgin Islands.

With returns counted from nearly two-thirds of the Louisiana precincts, he was gaining 53 percent of the vote, to 39 percent for the former first lady. As in his earlier Southern triumphs in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, Obama, a black man, rode a wave of African-American support to victory in Louisiana.

In all, the Democrats scrapped for 161 delegates in the night's contests. In initial allocations, Obama had won 31, Clinton nine.

Before Saturday, in overall totals in the NBC News count, Obama had 861 delegates to 855 for Clinton. A total of 2,025 is required to win the nomination at the national convention in Denver.

The Democratic race moved into a new, post-Super Tuesday phase as McCain flunked his first ballot test since becoming the Republican nominee-in-waiting. He lost the Kansas caucuses to Mike Huckabee, gaining less than 24 percent of the vote.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, got nearly 60 percent of the Kansas vote a few hours after telling conservatives in Washington, "I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them." He won all 36 delegates at stake.

Huckabee also was named by NBC News as the apparent winner of an extremely close Louisiana primary race. However, the presence of former candidate Mitt Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul on the ballot means no candidate will gain the 50 percent required to pocket 20 delegates. Instead, they will be awarded at a state convention next weekend.

Huckabee lags far behind in delegate count
McCain and Huckabee were fighting it out in Washington, where the race was tight. The Associated Press called the Washington race late Saturday night for McCain, but NBC News has judged the contest still too close to call.

For all his brave talk, Huckabee was hopelessly behind in the delegate race. McCain had 719, compared with 234 for Huckabee and 14 for Texas Rep. Ron Paul. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at the national convention.

The Democrats' race was as close as the Republicans' was not, a contest between Obama, hoping to become the first black president, and Clinton, campaigning to become the first female commander in chief.

MORE FROM DECISION '08

Decision '08 Section Front

Obama, in London, meets Brown McCain hits key states in shadow of Obama trip NYT: Bush, McCain diverging in foreign policy? McCain urges China to free Tibetans Analysis: Echoes of Clinton's campaign in race Nonprofits walk fine line on political activity Bush policy shifts leave Obama without a foil Newsweek: Factchecking McCain's Viagra moment Brownstein: The risk of Obama rapture Newsweek: McCain and Obama miss the real crisis Decision '08 Section Front   Add Decision '08 headlines to your news reader: