DaytonDailyNews.com

Hillary Clinton's victory in Ohio's Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, March 4, may give her "comeback kid" status.

It may not help her get any closer to the nomination, however.

Barack Obama had won 11 straight nominating contests going into Tuesday but Clinton had triumphed in the mega-states of New York and California and was banking on wins in both Ohio and Texas to give her new momentum.

The proportional system Democrats use to allocate delegates will make it hard for her to catch up with Obama in delegates. To gain more delegates than Obama, she needed to win by big margins across the state.

It takes 2,025 delegates to win the nomination and going into Tuesday, Obama had 1,378 compared to 1,276 for Clinton, according to The Associated Press.

Of Ohio's 141 pledged delegates, 92 were up for grabs in the state's 18 congressional districts and 49 at-large delegates will be awarded based on the primary's outcome.

If a district has four delegates, it takes a winning margin of 62.5 percent or more to get a majority — three — of the delegates. If the winning margin is lower, each candidate gets two delegates.

The contest in Texas was too close to call early this morning.

Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said that if Clinton wins both Ohio and Texas, she'd be well positioned to go on, with an eye on Pennsylvania's April 22 primary.

However, if she wins Ohio and loses Texas it would be "increasingly more difficult" for her to catch Obama, said Redfern.

Gov. Ted Strickland, Clinton's top Ohio supporter, said her win here keeps her in the race and, in her acceptance speech in Columbus, Clinton agreed.

"We're just getting started," she said.

Even with Clinton's convincing Ohio win, political scientist Christopher Duncan said she'll have a "moment of truth" if Obama is the winner in Texas because, in his opinion, it would be "mathematically impossible" for her to win the nomination.

"That means she's got to make the case that it's in the best interest of the party and the best interest of the country for the Democrats to go to the convention and fight this out on the floor. Not many people are going to be interested," Duncan said.

The heated competition between Obama and Clinton has given Strickland and other Ohio Democrats a rare opportunity to have a major say in picking their party's candidate.

Usually the nomination is all but sewn up by Ohio's primary, but it's different this year as Democrats battle over a historic decision — whether to nominate their first woman or first black presidential candidate.

They responded with a huge turnout, even in Republican strongholds such as Warren County. The county had 41,377 registered Republicans and 12,440 registered Democrats going into the election. However, with 69.77 of the precincts counted, 20,555 Democratic ballots had been cast, nearly as many as the 21,229 Republican ballots. Election officials had to restock some polling places with Democratic ballots, The Associated Press reported.

Both candidates made Ohio's slumping economy the top issue, promising to aid the middle class with tax relief, universal health care and by developing new jobs through green technologies.

They've also made NAFTA — the North American Free Trade Agreement — a major issue, each promising to withdraw from the pact unless they can renegotiate a better deal for American workers.

While Clinton, 60, emphasized her experience as a "doer, fighter and champion," Obama, 46, cast himself as the candidate of change and hope, someone who could bring Democrats, independents and Republicans together to inaugurate a better, less divisive American era.

Obama seemed to draw bigger crowds across the state, including 11,000 who packed Wright State University's Nutter Center for a Feb. 25 rally, but Clinton drew more people Tuesday.

And on this day, at least, it gave her a much-needed win and some momentum going forward.