Hillary Clinton stayed in the race for president and ended Barack Obama’s winning streak Tuesday by winning the Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island primaries. She had a tight victory over Obama in Texas with 50 percent of the vote. Obama easily captured the state of Vermont, his only victory in this set of primaries. In the delegate count, Obama still leads with 1,397 while Clinton has 1,281 out of the 2,025 delegates needed for nomination. Obama supporters and other Democratic Party members have been pressuring Clinton to drop out if she were to lose the Texas and Ohio primaries. Her victories mean survival for her campaign; however it leaves the Democratic nomination to a more uncertain fate. John McCain on the other hand secured the Republican Party nomination for president by beating out Mike Huckabee in all four primaries. McCain won the required 1,191 delegates needed for nomination, leaving Huckabee no choice but to end his campaign.
The timeliness is a main factor to making this story important. Americans are watching closely to see who will be the Democratic Party candidate for president. John McCain securing his party’s nomination is prevalent because it brings him one giant step closer to becoming the next president. The outcome of Tuesday’s primaries creates conflict because with Hillary winning two major states, Texas and Ohio, she will be able to stay in the race. Many speculators had given up on Clinton, but now the competition between her and Obama is even more intense. At this point in the campaign for presidency, news coverage on this subject is of great prominence. The nation needs to be informed on all aspects of the campaign and the candidates. (Newsday, 3/5/08, p. A2 and A4)
The story that caught my attention this past week was about two sisters who escaped a fire in their Amityville home Monday. Katerina, 13 and Sofia, 11 escaped from the second story of their 75 years old house as it was going up in flames. The fire started around 1 a.m. and began in the chimney of the house. Their parents made it out of the house while their two daughters were trapped amidst the quickly spreading place. The youngest, Sofia, jumped out of her bedroom window, which left her with three broken bones. Katerina went to the porch of the roof and was rescued when next door neighbor and Amityville Police Officer, Joseph Slack, pulled out a ladder from his garage. She jumped to where he was standing on the ladder and made it to safety. It was reported that it took 60 firefighters and 2 ½ hours to get the fire under control. (Newsday, 3/4/08, pp. A4 and A5)
At a tribal meeting Sunday to discuss Taliban militancy in Pakistan a suicide bomber killed 42 people. (Newsday, 3/3/08, p. A18) Harvard University banned males from one of its gyms for a few hours during the week in order to accommodate Muslim women. (Newsday, 3/5/08, p. A23) Two car bombings in Baghdad killed 26 Iraqis and injured dozens Monday. (Newsday, 3/4/08, p. A20) Formaldehyde levels in trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina relief victims are at dangerous levels and up to four times more than the levels found in newer U.S. homes. (Newsday, 3/4/08, p. A21) Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, ordered tanks and thousands of troops to Colombia’s border after accusing the country of pushing South America to war by killing a rebel leader on Ecuadorian soil. (Newsday, 3/3/08, p. A3) The pro-Kremlin United Russia party, lead by President Vladimir Putin, scored a victory in the parliamentary elections Sunday; though opposition leaders call the election the least democratic vote since the demise of the Soviet Union. (Newsday, 3/3/06, A18)
