Another major prize that day is California, where unaffiliated voters will be permitted to participate in the Democratic primary. But some strategists believe California’s Latino voters could boost Clinton, who is more popular in that group than Obama.

All told, more than 2,000 delegates will be decided that day, enough to seal the nomination. And by proving her strength, Clinton on Tuesday probably succeeded in calming skittish donors and supporters who had begun to wonder if she could even last until next month’s contests.

The exit polls, conducted by Edison/Mitofsky for a media consortium, surveyed 1,955 Democratic primary voters. The survey found that Clinton, who spoke on Monday of shattering the “highest and tallest glass ceiling in our country” by becoming the first female President, won 46 per cent of women’s votes, compared to 34 per cent for Obama.

She also defeated Obama among voters older than 40 and won more than a third of voters in a key part of Obama’s base, those in their mid-20s and 30s.

Tuesday’s results should help to further shape the Democratic race as a two-person contest between Obama and Clinton.

Third-place finisher John Edwards has vowed to campaign through the summer, apparently hoping that one of the front-runners would stumble and leave the former North Carolina senator as the only challenger. Should he drop out or fizzle, it is not clear which of his chief rivals would benefit more, with Clinton likely to draw union members and lower-income people who had been drawn to Edwards.

... contd.