Obama, Clinton and McCain land early U.S. wins

By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent

Clinton and Obama took two states each in their hard-fought duel for the Democratic presidential nomination. Clinton won Oklahoma and Tennessee, while Obama won Georgia and his home state of Illinois.

Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, won in Alabama and at a convention in West Virginia. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, won that state.

More than half the total delegates to the Democratic party convention in August and about 40 percent of the delegates to the Republican convention in September were up for grabs. The candidates battle for delegates who vote in those party conventions to pick their candidates for the November 4 election.

Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, was battling a wave of momentum for Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president. Obama has almost caught her in national polls and taken leads in several states taking part in the coast-to-coast voting.

Obama surged to victory in Georgia with a big boost from heavy support among black voters, but also scored about 40 percent of the white vote.

"None of us really understands what the impact of all these contests on one day will be," Clinton said on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Huckabee aimed for a strong showing in the South with its concentration of evangelical Christians.

Clinton voted in suburban New York, accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Obama voted in Chicago and then settled in for a possibly long night.

Because Democrats distribute delegates in proportion to their vote statewide and in individual congressional districts, candidates can come away with large numbers of delegates even in states they lose. Aides for both campaigns predicted the contest would continue for weeks or months to come.

McCain has struggled to win over conservatives in the party, who have been unhappy with his views on immigration, tax cuts and campaign finance reform.

Huckabee was aided by McCain voters who switched to him to deny Romney a victory, drawing a protest from Romney's camp.

McCain criticized Romney for complaining.

(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Claudia Parsons, Steve Holland, Ellen Wulfhorst, Andy Sullivan; editing by Howard Goller and Frances Kerry)