Reviving her White House hopes, Hillary Clinton stormed back with primary wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island and chipped away at Barack Obama’s delegate lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. In the other camp, John McCain clinched the Republican nomination with wins in all four states.

Emboldened by the wins which ended a string of defeats — Obama had 11 straight victories — Clinton told supporters in Ohio that “we are going on, we are going strong and we are going all the way.”

Tuesday’s results have made the fight muddier for the two Democratic contenders, much to the advantage of McCain. Obama said in San Antonio that he was still leading in terms of the number of delegates who will finally choose the Democratic presidential nominee during the August convention. Under the complicated Texas electoral system, superdelegates (elected party officials) are now set to swing the balance of power for the two Democratic contenders.

Midway through the counting when Clinton looked set to vindicate her reputation as a “comeback kid”, Obama, who won the Vermont primary, congratulated McCain for winning all four states and cementing the Republican nomination. He then walked up to a somewhat sombre crowd outside the municipal auditorium.

As he emerged from the building, wife Michelle’s favourite Stevie Wonder number began blaring: “Like a fool I went and stayed too long, now I am wondering if your love is still strong, ooh baby, here I am signed, sealed, delivered.”

The predominantly young crowd, which was swinging and dancing three hours ago when counting started, now stood frozen. Obama’s consecutive wins in 11 primaries had been stalled on another Super Tuesday and a long haul lay ahead — Clinton was back in contention for the Democratic ticket.

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