Hillary Rodham Clinton finally had a confetti night.
The Democratic presidential hopeful claimed victory in the Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island primaries Tuesday night, and said she was beginning a “new chapter in this historical campaign.”
“I am thrilled at this vote of confidence from the people of the great state of Texas, a state that I know and love,” she said from her campaign plane.
Confetti rained down on her Ohio rally as she took the stage. She told the crowd, "This nation's coming back and so is this campaign."
"We're going strong and we're going all the way," Clinton said.
Earlier, she broke Obama's winning streak by taking Rhode Island after Obama was declared the winner in Vermont. It was a costly rash of defeats for Clinton over the weeks, only partly redeemed Tuesday night because both Democrats divided the delegates at stake.
"Boy, thank you Ohio," she said, dragging out the "Ohhh."
"For everyone here in Ohio and across America who's ever been counted out but refused to be knocked out," she said, "and for everyone who has stumbled and stood right back up, and for everyone who works hard and never gives up, this one is for you."
And she alluded to the Midwestern industrial state's history of siding with the eventual presidential election winner: "You know what they say. As Ohio goes, so goes the nation." Clinton's claim to victory in Ohio had yet to be affirmed in the vote count.
Clinton, who once had a commanding lead in opinion polls in Ohio and Texas, slowed Obama with pointed attacks on his lack of experience in national security and his stance on trade.
Both candidates voiced objections to the North American Free Trade Agreement, opposed in Ohio, but Clinton accused Obama of quietly assuring the Canadian government that he was not serious about pulling out of it.