, McClatchy Newspapers
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Republican John McCain leads in all four corners of the country heading into a rush of primaries Tuesday, while Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were locked in a close struggle for delegates coast to coast, according to a new series of McClatchy-MSNBC polls.With many Republican contests winner-take-all delegate bonanzas, the surveys suggest that McCain could emerge with a commanding lead for the Republican nomination.The regional taste of the 22 Democratic contests suggests that Clinton and Obama will carve up the country, each emerging with a big block of delegates and the nomination far from clear.And in each of these regional bellwether states, at least 10 percent of Democratic voters remained undecided."For the Republicans, McCain is clearly the front-runner. He's ahead in every state," said Brad Coker, the managing partner of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, which conducted the nine polls."For the Democrats, [Clinton's] ahead everywhere except Georgia. But the leads aren't so big that it's a slam-dunk."Indeed, as primaries have shown throughout this volatile year, the actual vote can differ greatly from polls as voters change their minds or surge to the vote in numbers that overwhelm expectations.
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