WASHINGTON -- Boosted by his big night, John McCain asked his loudest conservative critics Wednesday to "calm down" and support his Republican presidential candidacy, as Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton girded for more rounds of their protracted struggle for the Democratic nomination. Obama dared claim a "big victory" because he came from so far behind, but the spoils were closely divided and the bragging rights, shared.

McCain was referring primarily to radio talk show hosts and other pundits of the right when he appealed for unity now that he has a leg up in the nomination race.

"I think they've made their case against me pretty eloquently," he said, adding wryly, "if that's the right word." He asserted that the pundits' conservative hero Ronald Reagan — and his — reached across the aisle to Democrats just like he wants to do as president.

"I do hope that at some point we would just calm down a little bit and see if there are areas that we can agree on for the good of the party and for the good of the country," he said. The critics argue he's too liberal for the party.

Both Obama and Clinton were looking ahead to the fall, campaigning as the Democrat tough enough to withstand Republicans attacks, and the Illinois senator pointedly argued Wednesday that he's been tested by the hard-driving Clinton campaign.

"The Clinton research operation is about as good as anybody's out there," Obama told a news conference. "I assure you that having engaged in a contest against them for the last year, that they've pulled out all the stops. ... We can take a punch. We're still standing."

Obama cited his growth in opinion polls that once found him far behind Clinton nationally and in some Super Tuesday states. "We won big states and small states," he said. "We won red states and we won blue states and we won swing states."

Clinton, too, won big, small, red, blue and bellwether: her column includes California, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Arizona and Tennessee.

Altogether, Obama won 13 Super Tuesday states; Clinton, eight plus American Samoa. Clinton scored the advantage in delegates, bringing her total to 845 to Obama's 765, by the latest accounting. The road ahead was long for the Democrats: It takes 2,025 delegates to claim their nomination.

The New Mexico Democratic caucuses Tuesday remained too close to call.

The question of who won Super Tuesday was more easily answered on the GOP side, where McCain piled up more delegates than his two rivals combined and pushed past the halfway mark toward what's needed to clinch the nomination. His victories stretched from New York to California, the biggest prize. Still, Mitt Romney in the West and Mike Huckabee in the South proved to be go-to candidates for conservatives, and they vowed to stay in the thick of the race.

On Saturday, Louisiana and Washington state hold two-party contests while Nebraska Democrats and Kansas Republicans make their picks. Then comes a larger series of two-party primaries in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Tuesday.

More than 168 Democratic delegates are at stake Tuesday, a sizable prize in two states and a district that are normally afterthoughts in nomination contests. Clinton, who plans to campaign in Virginia on Thursday, has been endorsed in Maryland by Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara Mikulski; Obama is backed by Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, and is expected to do well in largely black D.C. Republicans will award 116 delegates in the trio of races dubbed the Potomac Primary.

Romney enjoyed his first night at home in a month and then drove himself, his wife, Ann, and his son Craig to his office overlooking Boston Harbor for a strategy session with aides. "Got some good sleep," he said.

Exit polling indicated Obama and Clinton were each getting support from almost half of white men, marking a big improvement for the Illinois senator. Former Sen. John Edwards' departure from the Democratic race last week may have helped Obama with white males, who made up more than a quarter of Tuesday's Democratic voters from coast to coast.

More than four in 10 women and about the same number of whites also were supporting Obama. That represented a gain for him from most previous Democratic nominating contests this year, although he still trailed Clinton by more than 10 percentage points in both categories, a significant gap in a two-person race.

Democrats celebrated heavy turnout in several of their races and hoped they could bottle that electricity until the presidential campaign in the fall. As one measure, Clinton managed to get more votes in Minnesota than all that were cast in the 2004 Democratic caucuses in that state, despite her running a distant second to Obama.

Clinton won the biggest state, California, capitalizing on backing from Hispanic voters. Obama scored victories in Alabama and Georgia on the strength of black support, and won a nail-biter in bellwether Missouri.

McCain's own victory in California dealt a crushing blow to his closest pursuer, Romney, a former Massachusetts governor.

In the competition that counted the most, the Arizona senator had 613 delegates, to 269 for Romney and 190 for Huckabee in incomplete counting. It takes 1,191 to win the GOP nomination.

Polling place interviews with voters suggested subtle shifts in the political landscape.

For the first time this year, McCain ran first in a few states among self-identified Republicans. As usual, he was running strongly among independents. Romney was getting the votes of about four in 10 people who described themselves as conservative. McCain was winning about one-third of that group, and Huckabee about one in five.

Overall, Clinton was winning only a slight edge among women and white voters, groups that she had won handily in earlier contests, according to preliminary results from interviews with voters in 16 states leaving polling places.

Obama was collecting the overwhelming majority of votes cast by blacks — a factor in victories in Alabama and Georgia.

Clinton's continued strong appeal among Hispanics — she was winning nearly six in 10 of their votes — was a big factor in her California triumph, and in her victory in Arizona, too.

McCain won in California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Missouri, Delaware and his home state of Arizona — each of them winner-take-all primaries. He also pocketed victories in Oklahoma and Illinois.

Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, won a series of Bible Belt victories, in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee as well as his own home state. He also triumphed at the Republican West Virginia convention.

Romney won a home state victory in Massachusetts. He also took Utah, where fellow Mormons supported his candidacy. His superior organization produced caucus victories in North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Alaska and Colorado.

Democrats played out a historic struggle between two senators: Clinton, seeking to become the first female president, and Obama, hoping to become the first black to win the White House.

Clinton won at home in New York as well as in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arizona and Arkansas, where she was first lady for more than a decade. She also won the caucuses in American Samoa.

Obama won Connecticut, Georgia, Alabama, Delaware, Utah and his home state of Illinois. He prevailed in caucuses in North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Idaho, Alaska and Colorado. His Missouri victory was so close in the vote total that there was no telling whether he or Clinton would end up with a majority of the state's 72 delegates.

The allocation of delegates lagged the vote count by hours. That was particularly true for the Democrats, who divided theirs roughly in proportion to the popular vote. Nine of the Republican contests were winner take all, and that was where McCain piled up his lead.

Results:

Alabama

2,821 of 2,827 precincts - 99 percent

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x-Mike Huckabee 225,676 - 41 percent

John McCain 206,617 - 37 percent

Mitt Romney 99,838 - 18 percent

Ron Paul 15,055 - 3 percent

Rudy Giuliani 2,174 - 0 percent

Fred Thompson 1,872 - 0 percent

Uncommitted 1,257 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 788 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 394 - 0 percent

Hugh Cort 234 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 93 - 0 percent

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Arkansas

2,272 of 2,480 precincts - 92 percent

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x-Mike Huckabee 123,459 - 60 percent

John McCain 41,493 - 20 percent

Mitt Romney 27,321 - 13 percent

Ron Paul 9,860 - 5 percent

Uncommitted 881 - 0 percent

Rudy Giuliani 591 - 0 percent

Fred Thompson 565 - 0 percent

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Arizona

894 of 957 precincts - 93 percent

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x-John McCain 213,461 - 47 percent

Mitt Romney 154,071 - 34 percent

Mike Huckabee 40,497 - 9 percent

Ron Paul 19,160 - 4 percent

Rudy Giuliani 12,158 - 3 percent

Fred Thompson 8,633 - 2 percent

Duncan Hunter 944 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 794 - 0 percent

John McGrath 426 - 0 percent

Frank McEnulty 281 - 0 percent

Sean Murphy 223 - 0 percent

John Michael Fitzpatrick 165 - 0 percent

James Creighton Mitchell 162 - 0 percent

David Ruben 95 - 0 percent

Mike Burzynski 89 - 0 percent

Jerry Curry 77 - 0 percent

Bob Forthan 66 - 0 percent

Jack Shepard 64 - 0 percent

Michael Shaw 57 - 0 percent

Hugh Cort 50 - 0 percent

Rick Outzen 44 - 0 percent

Charles Skelley 44 - 0 percent

Daniel Gilbert 43 - 0 percent

Rhett Smith 37 - 0 percent

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California

22,217 of 23,109 precincts - 96 percent

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x-John McCain 955,211 - 42 percent

Mitt Romney 768,338 - 34 percent

Mike Huckabee 261,276 - 12 percent

Rudy Giuliani 114,942 - 5 percent

Ron Paul 96,544 - 4 percent

Fred Thompson 45,446 - 2 percent

Duncan Hunter 12,055 - 1 percent

Alan Keyes 9,274 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 3,237 - 0 percent

John Cox 2,580 - 0 percent

Sam Brownback 1,978 - 0 percent

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Connecticut

732 of 732 precincts - 100 percent

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x-John McCain 78,741 - 52 percent

Mitt Romney 49,851 - 33 percent

Mike Huckabee 10,591 - 7 percent

Ron Paul 6,092 - 4 percent

Rudy Giuliani 2,470 - 2 percent

Uncommitted 2,414 - 2 percent

Fred Thompson 543 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 372 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 138 - 0 percent

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Delaware

312 of 312 precincts - 100 percent

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x-John McCain 22,626 - 45 percent

Mitt Romney 16,344 - 33 percent

Mike Huckabee 7,706 - 15 percent

Ron Paul 2,131 - 4 percent

Rudy Giuliani 1,255 - 2 percent

Tom Tancredo 175 - 0 percent

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Georgia

3,148 of 3,157 precincts - 99 percent

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x-Mike Huckabee 325,642 - 34 percent

John McCain 302,989 - 32 percent

Mitt Romney 289,157 - 30 percent

Ron Paul 27,896 - 3 percent

Rudy Giuliani 7,008 - 1 percent

Fred Thompson 3,372 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 1,455 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 753 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 323 - 0 percent

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Illinois

11,270 of 11,574 precincts - 97 percent

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x-John McCain 418,118 - 47 percent

Mitt Romney 253,502 - 29 percent

Mike Huckabee 146,372 - 17 percent

Ron Paul 44,531 - 5 percent

Rudy Giuliani 11,049 - 1 percent

Fred Thompson 7,006 - 1 percent

Alan Keyes 2,253 - 0 percent

James Mitchell 458 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 358 - 0 percent

Uncommitted 0 - 0 percent

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Massachusetts

2,167 of 2,167 precincts - 100 percent

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x-Mitt Romney 255,248 - 51 percent

John McCain 204,027 - 41 percent

Mike Huckabee 19,168 - 4 percent

Ron Paul 13,210 - 3 percent

Rudy Giuliani 2,643 - 1 percent

No Preference 1,875 - 0 percent

Fred Thompson 942 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 263 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 155 - 0 percent

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Missouri

3,371 of 3,371 precincts - 100 percent

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x-John McCain 194,304 - 33 percent

Mike Huckabee 185,627 - 32 percent

Mitt Romney 172,564 - 29 percent

Ron Paul 26,445 - 4 percent

Rudy Giuliani 3,595 - 1 percent

Fred Thompson 3,106 - 1 percent

Uncommitted 2,083 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 894 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 306 - 0 percent

Virgil Wiles 124 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 108 - 0 percent

Daniel Gilbert 87 - 0 percent

Hugh Cort 46 - 0 percent

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New Jersey

6,253 of 6,292 precincts - 99 percent

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x-John McCain 309,622 - 55 percent

Mitt Romney 158,533 - 28 percent

Mike Huckabee 45,625 - 8 percent

Ron Paul 26,861 - 5 percent

Rudy Giuliani 14,253 - 3 percent

Fred Thompson 3,113 - 1 percent

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New York

14,567 of 14,670 precincts - 99 percent

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x-John McCain 310,502 - 51 percent

Mitt Romney 168,631 - 28 percent

Mike Huckabee 65,591 - 11 percent

Ron Paul 38,871 - 6 percent

Rudy Giuliani 18,620 - 3 percent

Fred Thompson 2,047 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 1,263 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 954 - 0 percent

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Oklahoma

2,220 of 2,220 precincts - 100 percent

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x-John McCain 122,748 - 37 percent

Mike Huckabee 110,486 - 33 percent

Mitt Romney 83,018 - 25 percent

Ron Paul 11,179 - 3 percent

Rudy Giuliani 2,412 - 1 percent

Fred Thompson 1,924 - 1 percent

Alan Keyes 817 - 0 percent

Jerry Curry 387 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 317 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 190 - 0 percent

Daniel Gilbert 124 - 0 percent

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Tennessee

2,290 of 2,290 precincts - 100 percent

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x-Mike Huckabee 189,443 - 34 percent

John McCain 174,763 - 32 percent

Mitt Romney 129,722 - 24 percent

Ron Paul 30,730 - 6 percent

Fred Thompson 16,044 - 3 percent

Rudy Giuliani 5,096 - 1 percent

Uncommitted 1,812 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 971 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 738 - 0 percent

Tom Tancredo 192 - 0 percent

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Utah

2,256 of 2,257 precincts - 99 percent

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x-Mitt Romney 255,218 - 90 percent

John McCain 15,264 - 5 percent

Ron Paul 8,295 - 3 percent

Mike Huckabee 4,054 - 1 percent

Rudy Giuliani 928 - 0 percent

Fred Thompson 575 - 0 percent

Alan Keyes 252 - 0 percent

Duncan Hunter 204 - 0 percent