UNITED STATES:BARACK OBAMA has won a resounding victory over Hillary Clinton in Wyoming, helping to restore his campaign's momentum after a punishing week of primary reversals and the resignation of foreign policy adviser Samantha Power.
Mr Obama won the Wyoming caucuses with 61 per cent of the vote, compared with 38 per cent for Mrs Clinton. But with only 12 delegates in contention, the win will do little to extend his lead among the delegates who will choose the Democratic presidential nominee.
The contest moves south to Mississippi tomorrow in a primary Mr Obama is also expected to win, the last contest before Pennsylvania votes on April 22nd.
Mr Obama's victory came as a new poll showed him almost tied with Mrs Clinton nationally, at 45 per cent compared with her 44 per cent. The Clinton campaign stepped up its attacks on Mr Obama, pouncing on Ms Power's suggestion in a BBC interview that he would take a flexible approach to withdrawing from Iraq if he becomes president.
"After months of speeches from Senator Obama promising a hard end date to the Iraq war, his top foreign policy adviser that counselled his campaign during that period is on the record saying that Senator Obama will 'not rely on some plan that he's crafted as a presidential candidate or a US senator'. Voters already have serious questions about whether Senator Obama is ready to be commander-in-chief. Now there are questions about whether he's serious about the Iraq plan he's discussed for the last year on the campaign trail," the Clinton campaign noted in a memo.
"Senator Obama has made hard end dates about Iraq a centrepiece of his campaign and has repeatedly attacked Senator Clinton for not being clear about her intentions with regard to troop withdrawal. It turns out those attacks and speeches were just words. And if you can't trust Senator Obama's words, what's left?"
Mrs Clinton has alternated her attacks on Mr Obama with hints that she would like him to join her on the presidential ticket but Mr Obama made clear at the weekend that he is not interested in the number two position.
"You won't see me as a vice-presidential candidate; you know, I'm running for president," Mr Obama told a Montana television station.
"We have won twice as many states as Senator Clinton, and have a higher popular vote, and I think we can maintain our delegate count."
The least populous state in the US, Wyoming has only 60,000 registered Democrats, almost 9,000 of whom took part in Saturday's caucuses. The state has not elected a Democrat to a federal office since 1976 but Mr Obama's campaign claimed that his victory underscores his appeal to voters in traditionally Republican states.
Mr Obama has the support of many Democratic congressmen and senators in conservative states who believe he would be more helpful to their electoral prospects than Mrs Clinton would.
Former senator Gary Hart has warned Mrs Clinton that she has broken one of the unwritten rules of politics by criticising Mr Obama in a way that could harm his chances in November if he becomes the Democratic nominee.
"By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her," he said.
Meanwhile, Iowa Republican congressman Steve King offered a foretaste of what could face Mr Obama in the autumn, referring in a TV interview to the fact that the Democratic candidate's middle name is Hussein. "If he is elected president . . . then the al-Qaeda, the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets," Mr King said. "They will be dancing in the streets because of his middle name."