For better or worse — and many Democrats fear it is for worse — the race goes on.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Senator Barack Obama in Pennsylvania on Tuesday by enough of a margin to continue a battle that Democrats increasingly believe is undermining their effort to unify the party and prepare for the general election against Senator John McCain.

Amid signs Democrats are increasingly ready for the bitter race to end, Pennsylvania voters are making their choice Tuesday for the party's next presidential nominee.

Polls opened this morning across the state and remain open until 8 p.m. ET, after last-minute campaigning by Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Republicans also hold a primary today, but John McCain has clinched the party nomination.

Sen. John McCain cemented his Republican front-runner status Tuesday, piling up big wins coast-to- coast, according to CNN projections.

Democratic voters remain evenly split on Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama for their party's nomination.

The presidential races head to key primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia next Tuesday. The candidates hope to gain momentum for those with victories in the Louisiana primaries and Washington state caucuses on Saturday.

In what could be a pivotal day for the Democratic and Republican White House hopefuls, voters coast to coast will head to the polls in 24 states and American Samoa Tuesday.

Super Tuesday is virtually a national primary day, and some of the biggest prizes of the primary season -- California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri and Georgia -- are up for grabs.

More than four-fifths of the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination and more than 1,000 of the 1,191 necessary delegates on the Republican side are at stake.

Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina is dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, two sources inside his campaign said Wednesday.

Edwards has told top advisers about his decision. It is expected he will announce it in a speech at 1 p.m. ET Wednesday in New Orleans, Louisiana.

An Edwards aide said the candidate was not getting the media attention he needed to get his message out and win delegates, especially with races coming up in 22 states next Tuesday.

Edwards has amassed 26 delegates for the Democratic nomination.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are in a close race for first in South Carolina, according to exit polls.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are vying for third place in the pivotal Republican primary.

Results from the GOP primary come just hours after the Nevada caucuses.

Sen. Hillary Clinton won Nevada's Democratic caucuses and Romney claimed victory on the Republican side, according to CNN projections.

Clinton, coming off a disappointing third-place finish in Iowa, rebounded to first place, overcoming rival Sen. Barack Obama in the state's Democratic primary.

The win breathes new life into a Democratic campaign that turns its focus to contests in Nevada and South Carolina -- and could stretch past "Super Tuesday" February 5.

Supporters at Clinton's headquarters chanted "comeback kid" as the results arrived.

Clinton had trailed Obama by 9 points in recent polls. Video Watch what's next for campaigns »

Sen. Barack Obama, bidding to be the first black president in American history, won the Iowa caucuses Thursday night, pushing Sen. Hillary Clinton back to third place in the opening test of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee rode a wave of support from evangelical Christians to victory over Mitt Romney.

Obama, 46, told a raucous victory rally his triumph showed that in "big cities and small towns, you came together to say, 'We are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come.'"

The first contest of the U.S. presidential election campaign comes this week in the midwestern state of Iowa, where Democrats and Republicans will hold caucuses Thursday night. VOA correspondent Paula Wolfson reports, candidates from both major parties are hoping for an early victory.