The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Chicago

A key Hillary Clinton ally quit her White House campaign Wednesday after comments about Barack Obama stirred an ugly race row, as the Democratic foes dug in for a testy six-week haul to their next nominating clash. Obama, vying to become the first African-American president, expressed frustration that race kept emerging as a campaign issue, and also rejected the former first lady's claims he is not ready to be commander in chief. Fresh tensions simmered between the camps a day after Obama's landslide victory in Mississippi's primary -- the last showdown before Pennsylvania votes next month -- extended his lead in their epic White House struggle. Geraldine Ferraro, a Democratic party icon, severed ties with Clinton's finance committee, campaign sources said, after a two-day row sparked by her comment that: "if Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position." Obama on Wednesday branded the remarks "ridiculous" and "wrong headed" and his campaign had previously demanded Ferraro's ouster, after one of its aides last week was forced to quit after calling Clinton a "monster."