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Show Today is Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 Breaking News Sen. John McCain cleans up in the GOP primaries with 497 delegates. Campus News Rachel Hedman entertains students and families with her stories. Page 3 Features Mitt Romney and Barack Obama win Utah delegates SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose Mormon faith played a big role in his primary victory in Utah, won 36 delegates in a winnertake-all sweep, while Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary. Romney had been expected to win Utah, where more than 60 percent of residents are also members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He also won the GOP primary in Massachusetts, where he served as governor. Obama, an Illinois senator, held a commanding lead with the state's Democratic primary voters. Utah Democrats split their delegates by the popular vote. The Associated Press made its call based on surveys of voters as they left the polls. Romney is a favorite adopted son in Utah. He was chief of the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002 and own* a vacation home at Park City's Deer Valley resort. About 90 percent of Republicans at Utah polls said they were Mormon and that Romney shared their values. "Honestly, yes, I'm voting for him because he's LDS," said Laroy Whitmore, a 40-year-old construction worker from the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy. "But I was impressed with the Olympics. I thought it was dead, but he came in and fixed it," Whitmore added. "Clearly, he has the background and experience to lead our country." Romney also found favor with GOP voters who said the economy and immigration were their main concerns, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press. "It's always great when the people who know you best support you," said Josh Romney, 32, one of the candidate's five sons, who lives in Salt Lake City and works for a real-estate development firm. Obama had an edge with male voters in Utah, while women appeared evenly divided between him and Clinton, a New York senator. Voters who described themselves as independents were more than twice as likely to vote for Obama, the survey found. "There's something going on with Obama," said Utah Democratic Party spokesman Bill Keshlear, describing Obama's appeal. "It has to do with his youth, his message of hope and enthusiasm. Part of it is generational. A lot of people his age and younger who grew up with hip-hop culture are comfortable with an African-American as president," he said. Because of Romney's overwhelming support among Utah Republicans and their winner-take-all primary, Arizona Sen. McCain's campaign and that of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have been all but absent in Utah. Romney, by contrast, has made several fundraising appearances and ran television commercials here. He raised $5.2 million last year for his presidential campaign in Utah, making it his second-highest yielding state after California, according to Federal Election Commission filings. For Jamelle Chadwick, a stay-at-home mother in Sandy, Utah, Romney's Mormonism made the difference. "The standards are important in leadership, like integrity, honesty and hard work," she said, adding that Romney's experience is another plus. "He knows how to solve problems." Students gather for election results By LINDSAY ANDERSON staff writer Students. who manage finances well today can save big in the future. PageS Sports Randy Spetman leaves USU for athletic director position at Florida State University. Page 9 Opinion "What constitutes a snow day? What sort of divine providence? What kind of ritual animal sacrifice has to be performed to the gods of Qld.^lain?"; . ;, _. Page 12 USU students of every party affiliation showed up at the Taggart Student Center Tuesday night to watch poll results from primaries around the nation. The party, a collaborated event hosted by ASUSU, the College Democrats and USU for Obama, is one of several ways USU has gotten involved in political events. Ashley Johnson, executive vice president of ASUSU, works as a liaison between USU and local and state governments. "1 really want to get students as civically aware as possible," Johnson said. "Two weeks ago, we had civic awareness and HASS Week, and me and HASS Sen. Nick West got over 400 people to register to vote in less than four days." Johnson said as part of her attempt to make USU more civically aware, she negotiated for early campus registration, which occurred last Friday, and is currently working on getting registration booths and a drop box, to make the voter registration process as easy as possible. A N T I C I P A T I N G T H E E L E C T I O N RESULTS, students gathered in the TSC to watch the winJohnson also arranged for MTV to come Tuesday night as a way to get students to come ners across the nation in yesterday's Super Tuesday election. CAMERON PETERSON photo. out to the event. MTV took 30-second clips what policies she wants enacted and what direc- at the candidate who mirrors your values, and Tuesday of different colleges around the nation tion she wants things to go." vote." who were getting politically involved, including Jaron Janson, chair of the College Republi"You can have a big effect on the outcomes USU. cans, said he is a supporter of Mitt Romney, of elections," Hill said. "A lot of people tend "My biggest goal is making it as easy as and, "Activities like this are exciting, and get to think that politics is removed from them, possible for students to get involved, because us excited about our civic responsibility and but policies that legislators make and that the most students just don't know how to go about specific candidates" president carries out as to education, foreign getting involved," Johnson said. policy, and all of those kind of things really, Johnson said she was "excited about the turnMelinda Thatcher, campus coordinator for out" and was glad to see students taking such an really affect us in really specific, tangible ways. USU for Obama, said, "Students can really It determines what kind of funding we get. It interest in politics. change the way things go, because we are such a determines how we are viewed in the world, Though Super Tuesday is over, the election is huge population." etc. It really is about being aware of and taking not, Johnson said. Aubrey Hill, president of the USU College control of the future we are going to have. To do "Go down and register to vote now," she said. Democrats, said she is a supporter of Hillary that, we have to be involved in politics." "Today is Feb. 5, the field is about to narrow, Clinton because "she has very specific plans for •Hndsay.anderson@aggiemaiLusu.edu but the election is not over. Get involved, look Super Tuesday leaves Dems delegates close Almanac Today in History: In 1952, V Princess Elizabeth, the oldest of King George VTs two daughters, becomes Queen Elizabeth II. Her coronation was televised as a relations act. Weather High: 29° Low: 19° Skies: Snow with accumulation around 1 to 2 inches. Archives and breaking news ^ wwwMtahstatesman.com Logan, Utah Utah State University for y o u at istatesrnan.com A CACHE VALLEY RESIDENT casts his vote in the SuperTuesday elections PATRICK ODEN photo WASHINGTON (AP)-Sen. John McCain jumped to a commanding lead in the Republican delegate race over Mitt Romney on Super Tuesday. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton edged ahead of Sen. Barack Obama in the race for Democratic delegates. McCain won 395 delegates to 107 for Romney and 98 for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in incomplete results. A total of 1,023 delegates were up for grabs in 21 states. Overall, McCain led with 497 delegates, to 200 for Romney and 141 for Huckabee. It takes 1,191 to win the nomination at this summer's convention in St. Paul, Minn. Clinton led with 354 delegates to Obama's 313 in incomplete results. A total of 1,681 delegates were at stake in 22 states and American Samoa. Overall, that gave Clinton 615 delegates, to 515 for Obama, with 2,025 delegates required to claim the nomination in Denver at this summer's convention. The AP tracks the delegate races by projecting the number of national convention delegates won by candidates in each presidential primary or caucus, based on state and national party rules, and by interviewing unpledged delegates to obtain their preferences. In some states, like Iowa and Nevada, local precinct caucuses are the first stage in the allocation process. The AP uses preferences expressed in those caucuses to project the number of national convention delegates each candidate will have when they are chosen at county, congressional district or state conventions. |