McCain, Obama edge rivals in Missouri

St. Louis voters helped Barack Obama come from behind to beat Hillary Clinton in Missouri's Democratic primary, while John McCain edged out Mike Huckabee in a similarly close race to claim one of Super Tuesday's richest delegate rewards.

McCain and Obama each won the statewide vote in their primaries by a margin of a little more than 1 percentage point. But McCain will enjoy a much bigger benefit.

Although the Arizona senator carried just one-third of the GOP vote in a three-way race against the former Arkansas governor and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, he stands to gain all 58 delegates because of the Republicans' winner-take-all approach in Missouri.

Obama won 49 percent of the statewide Democratic vote, but likely will split the 72 delegates at stake in the primary with the New York senator. That's because Democratic delegates are awarded proportionally, based partly on the statewide results and partly on congressional district results.

Clinton doubled and even Obama's vote totals in some rural, predominantly white counties. But the Illinois senator racked up leads in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, home to many of Missouri's black voters and among the last areas to report results.

All five leading Democratic and Republican candidates made weekend campaign stops in Missouri leading up to the primary. Prospective voters were targeted repeatedly with telephone calls and TV ads.

Missouri is considered a bellwether state because its voters have come down on the side of the winner in every presidential election except one in the past 100 years. In 1956, Missourians narrowly chose Democrat Adlai Stevenson of neighboring Illinois instead of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower.