By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama hoped toextend his winning streak over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday in atight Democratic presidential race as voters made their choicesin three battlegrounds around the U.S. capital.
Republican front-runner John McCain and his last majorchallenger, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also squaredoff in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia asMcCain tried to move closer to clinching the party's nominationfor the November election.
Voting took place in freezing temperatures, with lightsnowfall or rain in some spots, but local officials said earlyturnout was strong.
Polls were to close at 7 p.m. EST/2400 GMT in Virginia andat 8 p.m. EST/0100 GMT on Wednesday in Maryland and theDistrict, and results were expected soon afterward.
In the Democratic race, Obama was favoured in all threecontests. But the first-term senator from Illinois, who hassuffered some losses to Clinton after leading in pre-voteopinion polls, sought to play down expectations at a morningvisit to a doughnut shop in Washington.
"I'm never expected to win," he told reporters as he shookhands with voters and waited for his order. "I don't win untilI win. I was expected to win in New Hampshire. We lost. Iremember that."
Obama easily swept four contests over the weekend in thestates of Maine, Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington, edgingpast Clinton in the race for pledged delegates who formallyselect a party nominee at a convention in August.
Among Republicans, McCain has built a nearly insurmountablelead in delegates to his party's nominating convention andbecame the likely nominee last week with the withdrawal of histop rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
HUCKABEE HANGS ON
But Huckabee captured two of three contests on Saturday asMcCain, an Arizona senator, struggled to win over disgruntledconservatives unhappy with his record on immigration, taxes andother issues.
In an interview on WTOP radio on Tuesday morning, Huckabeewas asked if he had a chance to win in Virginia. "We'd loveto," the Baptist minister said. "It depends on if our voterstruly are willing to come out and show that they believe thatthere ought to be a real race."
Obama has 958 pledged delegates to Clinton's 904, accordingto a count by MSNBC -- well short of the 2,025 needed to clinchthe Democratic nomination. A total of 168 delegates are atstake in Tuesday's voting.
Clinton, a New York senator and wife of former PresidentBill Clinton, voiced confidence about her campaign's futureeven as she looked past Tuesday's three contests and nextweek's battles in Wisconsin and Hawaii -- all of which favourObama -- to focus on crucial March 4 contests in the big statesof Texas and Ohio.
Clinton did not wait around for the voting in the capitalregion, heading on Tuesday afternoon to El Paso, Texas, whereshe planned an evening rally. She planned to campaign in Texason Wednesday and in Ohio on Thursday.
Clinton said she had the best chance of beating McCain, whohas all but clinched the Republican nomination by winning morethan 700 of the 1,191 delegates needed for nomination -- anoverwhelming lead on Huckabee, who has barely more than 200.
Clinton strategist Mark Penn said in a memo she would bebetter able to withstand Republican attacks in a generalelection, having faced them for years. Clinton echoed the themein an interview with a local Washington television station.
"I have been vetted, I have been through this. There isn'tany new information," Clinton said on Monday. "I don't thinkyou can say that about my opponent."
Obama, in a later interview with the same station, said hedid not buy the argument. "What we have shown is that we cantake a punch," he said.
McCain, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war,said on Monday he would not take public matching funds in thenominating fight, avoiding their accompanying spending limitsand allowing him to raise and spend more money before thenominating convention.
(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles, Jeff Mason, CarenBohan; Editing by David Wiessler)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
