Advantage, Obama

Moreover, Wolfson sought to cast a negative light on past comments by the Obama campaign that downplayed the Florida primary since its delegates don't count. "Despite efforts by the Obama campaign to ignore Floridians, their voices will be heard loud and clear across the country," Wolfson wrote. To which the Obama team retorted: "If the Clinton campaign's southern strength rests on the outcome in a state where they're the only ones competing, that should give Democrats deep pause."

With two states apiece for Clinton and Obama and a looming tsunami of primaries, be prepared for plenty more spin—and, most likely, rancor. As the campaigns absorbed the results and the pundits opined, the candidates were already preparing for the battlegrounds to come. Clinton departed for Nashville, where she was scheduled to hold a town hall meeting on Saturday night. Obama, for his part, was heading to Macon, Ga., where he was scheduled to speak at a predominantly white church the following day. As the candidates engage each other in the days to come, Lillie James, the elderly black voter at Shoney's, hopes they won't tear each other apart. "This week was too much," she said. "They need to get it together."

With Richard Wolffe

© 2008