Illinois: Obama, McCain win
CHICAGO The Associated Press made the calls based on surveys of voters
leaving the polls.
Obama, the state's junior U.S. senator, bested rival New York
Sen. Hillary Clinton regardless of the voter's race, gender or age,
according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and
television networks.
John Topliffe, a 60-year-old retired Air Force pilot from the
St. Louis area, voted twice for President Bush. But he backed Obama
in the primary.
"Fairly early, I noticed that he kind of stood above the rest,
above the fray and all the baloney," Topliffe said. "I put him
with John Kennedy. I think he's got the same intelligence, the same
charisma. I think he'd be a good president."
At Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School on Chicago's South Side,
Obama and his wife, Michelle, were greeted by cheers as they
arrived to cast ballots. Obama shook hands with the crowd and
shouted, "Are you fired up? Are you ready to go?"
McCain, an Arizona senator, may have benefited from crossover
voting in his win over Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
Steve Greenberg of Grayslake, a registered Democrat, couldn't
decide between the top two candidates on that slate and thought his
vote would be more valuable on the Republican side.
"I like both Hillary and Obama," said Greenberg, 39. "I went
with McCain because if the Democrats lost, I'd be more comfortable
with him."
With 153 delegates, Illinois trails only California and New York
in Super Tuesday states.
Illinois traditionally holds its primary in mid-March, when
results in early states have often settled the nominees. This year,
state lawmakers moved the primary up to give a boost to Obama, the
freshman Illinois senator who began his campaign almost exactly a
year ago. Clinton, the New York senator who grew up in suburban
Park Ridge, focused her efforts on other states.