Clinton Pressured to Quit Before ‘2nd Super Tuesday’

The fates of the two U.S. Democratic presidential candidates will soon be determined as voters of four states including Ohio and Texas cast their ballots Tuesday. The primary exit polls results will be released Wednesday afternoon (Korean Time).

Experts say the results are crucial to both contenders. For Obama, it will be a chance to drive Hillary Clinton out of the presidential race. For Clinton, this is her chance to end Obama’s streak of 11 straight victories and keep her candidacy alive.

CNN said that if Obama claims Texas and Ohio, the game will be over, but that if Clinton takes both states, their fight will unlikely not end until the Democratic National Convention.

The network said that if the two candidates split the two states, their battle will start a new phase. Amid worry over the Democratic Party’s disruption due to the prolonged race, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, said Monday that if Clinton loses the primaries, she should consider dropping out of the race.

Clinton, however, insists she will not quit regardless of the results, saying she is preparing for the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

On the Republican side, John McCain of Arizona is expected to secure enough delegates to clinch his party’s nomination with victories Tuesday.

spear@donga.com