Obama Leads Clinton in Maine Caucus

PRESIDENTIAL hopeful Barack Obama beats Hillary Clinton in the Maine Caucus as the two Democrats stand shoulder to shoulder at the race.

Maine Democrats headed to caucus sites in 420 cities and towns in the northeastern state to decide how the state's 24 delegates will be allotted at the party's national convention in August.

With 44 percent of the participating precincts reporting, Obama had 57 percent and Clinton 42 percent.

Obama has said that the public sees Clinton as part of a divisive political era when the government was gridlocked and Republicans won control of Congress.

"I think it's very hard for Senator Clinton to break out of the politics of the past 15 years,” Obama said.