By Rachel Kapochunas, CQ Staff

Barack Obama easily defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in Democratic presidential caucuses held Saturday in the state of Washington — on the same day that the state’s Republican Party also held caucuses that have yet to be decided.

The victory by the Illinois senator over the New York senator and former first lady — combined with his win in caucuses in Nebraska and what appears a very possible victory in Saturday’s Louisiana primary — make for a big day for Obama in the first events held after the quasi-national Super Tuesday voting spree.

Obama’s likely Saturday sweep comes on the heels of his rough split with Clinton of the delegates up for grabs in the 22 states that held Democratic primaries or caucuses last Tuesday. Depending on which of the delegate totals you use among the varying media surveys, Obama will either edge slightly ahead of Clinton in the total count or move into a virtual tie as a result of Saturday’s contest.

The victories in Washington, which has a total of 97 national convention delegates, and Nebraska, which has 31, continued Obama’s roll through this year’s caucus contests. Those are the kinds of events in which candidates with large and enthusiastic activist bases — and Obama is one of these — can have an outsized impact. Obama also has put personal attention into many of these caucus states, while Clinton has focused more strongly on primary states that deliver bigger delegate prizes.

Of the 11 states that have held caucuses rather than primaries so far, Obama has clearly won in nine: Iowa, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota and North Dakota along with the two states he won Saturday. Maine Democrats are holding their presidential caucuses on Sunday.

Obama had 67 percent of the Washington vote to 32 percent for Clinton, with 76 percent of the Democratic vote recorded.

Christine Gregoire , the state’s Democratic governor, endorsed Obama on Friday, noting what she believes to be his ability to unite Americans. “ Barack Obama has a unique ability to reach across all the artificial divides and divisions to move our nation forward,” Gregoire said, echoing the themes of change and cross-party outreach that Obama is emphasizing as he seeks to become the nation’s first African-American president. “At a time of great division in our country, we need a leader who will unite us. Barack Obama is that kind of leader.”

Gregoire differed from Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell , the state’s two Democratic senators. They endorsed Clinton, who also is trying to make history as the nation’s first woman president.

Both candidates made last-minute pushes in the state this week. Clinton visited Seattle on Thursday and Spokane on Friday, while Obama and his wife Michelle made campaign stops in the state Friday.

The state party decided not to hold its nominating contest on Feb. 5 — Super Tuesday — when 24 states held at least one party’s presidential nominating event. Washington Democrats believed that having a competitive contest after Super Tuesday injected more interest and importance into their Saturday caucuses.

In the days after Feb. 5, the state Democratic Party Web site proclaimed, “Super Tuesday leaves Washington Super Charged!” The Democratic Party had predicted record-high turnout for the day, with as many as 175,000 participants.

State party spokesman Kelly Steele told CQ Politics on Saturday that turnout was double the party’s record high or more.

Steele said Obama “ran a campaign that was solid in terms of organization on the ground, and I think people were generally excited in Washington state about his message.” Steele added, though, that Clinton also has a “strong amount of support” in the state and the party is prepared to support whomever wins the national party’s nomination.

Voters in the state of Washington are reputed to have an independent streak. Voters in the state do not register by party (though both parties required Saturday’s caucus participants to sign declarations of their party affiliation when they arrived at their caucus locations).

Yet the state has generally leaned Democratic in recent years and has gone to that party in each of the past five presidential elections dating to 1988. Opposition to the war in Iraq and President Bush runs high in the state. And Obama has hit out at Clinton for her 2002 vote to authorize Bush to use military force against Iraq. Obama was serving in the Illinois Senate at the time, but notes that he publicly opposed the war.

A statewide primary in Washington will be held on Feb. 19, but the votes in that primary do not have any bearing on the Democratic Party delegates.