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Mar 5, 2008 12:20 am US/Central
Inside Candidates' Campaign Headquarters, Parties
(CBS 11 News)
Clinton: The New "Comeback Kid"
The party at the Columbus Athenian, an old Masonic temple, was over by the time CBS announced Senator Hillary Clinton the winner of the popular vote in Texas.
She had trailed Sen. Barack Obama for most of the night, but then came back and tied him. Shortly before 10 p.m. she took the lead in the vote.
Early in the evening, Clinton's campaign manager had expressed confidence that she would win the Texas primary. At the time, it seemed the crowd in Ohio was more excited about the upcoming Texas results.
The crowd remained energetic throughout the night, especially after the band struck up, announcing reports that she had won the Rhode Island primary.
Clinton savored her victory in Ohio next, saying, "as Ohio goes, so goes the nation." No candidate has won the White House recently without winning Ohio, she said.
CBS 11 News was the only North Texas television crew in Columbus. Reporter Jack Fink said, "It's a nasty, rainy, bone-chilling day in Columbus."
Initially, officials said that cold weather caused problems at some of the polling locations, so voting times were extended until 9 p.m. in some parts of Ohio. Paper ballots replaced electronic voting machines as a temporary solution.
Earlier Tuesday, Clinton was doing last minute campaigning in Houston, where she told reporters she was just getting warmed up. She acknowledged she may have a split outcome in Texas. She could win the popular vote and then lose the delegates.
From Houston, Clinton went to Herrera's Restaurant on Denton Drive in Dallas. She went from table to table, greeting people and reminding them to not only vote in the primary, but to also show up at the caucus.
Pennsylvania, the biggest single prize left, follows on April 22.
Obama: It's All About Perception
The Barack Obama campaign is aware that Clinton's win is all about perception.
If the rest of the country perceives that Clinton has the lead, or the momentum, things could rapidly change for the Obama campaign.
The crowd at Municipal Auditorium in Downtown San Antonio seemed to respond to the losses by the time Obama took the stage Tuesday night. The mood at the rally was low, but Obama gave a rousing speech, saying he still had the lead in delegates. That lead will be carried into the next primaries.
Earlier in the day, Obama won Vermont, but no one was around to celebrate because the rally didn't start until the Texas caucuses were over. By the time Sen. Obama took the stage, Ohio and Rhode Island had gone to Clinton and she inched ahead of him in Texas.
Throughout the night, the crowd reserved any enthusiasm because they know the race is a nail bitter.
Obama spent Tuesday morning in Houston at a rodeo and livestock show before heading to San Antonio.
McCain Surpasses 1191 Delegates Needed To Win GOP Nomination
It was a comeback that seem improbable, if not impossible just last summer. But Tuesday night Senator John McCain reached that magic number of 1191 delegates.
The Fairmont Hotel in Dallas erupted in cheers as the results of the primaries announced John McCain had won enough delegates to become the GOP candidate.
He told an enthusiastic crowd that he would accept the nomination with confidence, humility and a great sense of responsibility.
His victory speech was based heavily on national security, which will be his focus and strength in the general election. Now that he was the first to the finish line, he says the contest begins tonight.
The next stop for McCain will be the White House, where he is expected to meet with President Bush to pick up his endorsement.
McCain started the morning in San Antonio at Mi Tierra restaurant, where he encouraged voters to go to the polls and talked about issues including health care and the War on Terror.
At lunch time, he headed to Houston for a town hall meeting. He had said that he hoped to shift his focus away from a Republican challenger, Mike Huckabee, and on to a Democratic one.
Huckabee Drops Out Of Race Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, officially announced he was pulling out of the race for presidency at 8:15 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel in Irving.
The campaign, which began with so much promise and momentum in Iowa, ended in Texas.
His partying words carried the same grace in which he ran his campaign. He thanked his family and supporters, telling them not to surrender their core conservative values. But at the same time, he urged them to whole-heartily endorse Senator John McCain.
Whether his followers jump behind McCain is anyone's guess, but those followers will jump behind Huckabee again if he decides to run in 2012.
Earlier in the day, Huckabee visited his local campaign office in Dallas earlier today, encouraging supporters to remain optimistic.
The 52-Year-Old Republican waged a campaign that appealed to those who felt John McCain isn't conservative enough.
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