KEY POINTS:
COLUMBIA - Barack Obama won a vital contest in South Carolina on Saturday in his quest for the US Democratic presidential nomination, showing strength among southern blacks who make up half the state's Democratic voters.
After losses in New Hampshire and Nevada, the victory gave Obama, who would be the first black president, a big lift heading into the Super Tuesday contests on Feb. 5, when nearly half of the US states will pick Republican and Democratic candidates for the November election.
South Carolina was the latest test for Obama, who would be the first black US president, and Clinton, a New York senator, in their escalating battle for the right to represent the Democratic Party in November's presidential election.
After two consecutive losses, in New Hampshire and Nevada, Obama needed a win on Saturday if he hopes to head into the Feb. 5 "Super Tuesday" contests in two dozen states with a realistic chance of victory.
The high stakes fuelled a week of angry accusations, harsh advertisements and increasingly personal jabs between the two candidates, capped by a volley of attacks on Obama from Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Obama and Hillary Clinton visited with voters in South Carolina during the day - Obama visited a polling station and a restaurant, while Clinton visited two restaurants.
Clinton left South Carolina before the polls closed, headed to Tennessee - which votes on Feb. 5 - for a town hall meeting in Nashville.
The other candidate in the Democratic race, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who won South Carolina during his failed 2004 presidential bid, was in a battle with Clinton for second place.
- REUTERS
