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Obama wins big in Mississippi primary

Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman had his march across the Deep South, and now 144 years later, Sen. Barack Obama has completed his - moving in the reverse direction.

Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman had his march across the Deep South, and now 144 years later, Sen. Barack Obama has completed his - moving in the reverse direction.

Obama's big win yesterday over Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Democrats' Mississippi primary added to the lead that the Illinois senator holds in delegates, as well as in primary votes - and showed again why a Southern strategy is a key part of his success.

Once again, Obama's popularity among African-Americans - in the state that was at the center of the voting rights battles of the 1960s - proved decisive in a state where roughly half of all Democrats casting ballots are black.

Network polls last night showed Obama winning a staggering 90 percent of the black vote in the Magnolia State, exceeding his performance among African-Americans elsewhere. Also continuing a trend from earlier contests, Clinton - the wife of the ex-Arkansas-governor-turned-president - was dominating the Mississippi white vote with 70 percent.

The polling data showed Mississippi remains a racially polarized state, at least politically.

Four in 10 blacks said race was important in choosing their candidate. Of that group, nine in 10 supported Obama. Among whites, one quarter said race was an important factor in deciding their vote. Nine in 10 of them voted for Clinton. The economy was rated by all voters as the No. 1 issue.

With last night's win, Obama has now cut a straight swath from the Mason-Dixon line just south of Pennsylvania to Louisiana, broken only by North Carolina, which doesn't hold its primary until May 6.

In fact, Obama's win in Mississippi was predicted to the point that both candidates spent the afternoon campaigning here in Pennsylvania, where some 158 pledged delegates are up for grabs on April 22.

Clinton's campaign had made it clear ahead of time that she expected to lose in Mississippi.

"Some people have said 'Well Mississippi is very much a state that will most likely be in favor of Senator Obama.' I said 'Well, that's fine,' but I want people in Mississippi to know I'm for you," she said in Hattiesburg before flying to Pennsylvania.

Last night's win in Mississippi extended Obama's delegate lead going into Pennsylvania, with the Associated Press awarding himsix delegates and saying he would win a clear majority of the 33 up for grabs. In the overall race for the nomination, Obama had 1,585 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton had 1,473, according to an early AP tally.

Obama's victory - coupled with a win Saturday in the Democratic caucus in Wyoming - will help him regain some of the momentum he lost last week when Clinton won in Ohio and won the popular vote in Texas.

However, a poll of Pennsylvania voters released yesterday by Survey USA showed a sizable Clinton lead in the Keystone State of 55 percent to 36 percent. The survey of 1,650 registered voters taken Saturday through Monday found Clinton running ahead everywhere except for a virtual tie in the Philadelphia region. *

The Associated Press contributed to this report.