A Democratic Muddle

In the days ahead, the campaigns plan to play up their perceived strengths. For Clinton, that means sharing the specifics of her plans for health-care reform, the mortgage meltdown and other issues that she thinks are weighing most heavily on voters' minds. Her preferred approach will continue to be what her campaign calls "people-oriented"—favoring more intimate settings where she can exchange directly with voters as opposed to the enormous rallies Obama has become known for. Moreover, the campaign is hoping to engage Obama directly in a series of TV debates—ideally about one a week, said Clinton strategist Mark Penn in a conference call on Tuesday. Already, the campaign has agreed to four debate offers from CNN, ABC, MSNBC and Fox (no word yet from the Obama campaign). The Clinton campaign's thinking: such forums help Clinton showcase her detailed proposals and mastery of policy, while also diverting attention from Obama's soaring speeches at celebrity-studded, stadium-sized rallies.

Meanwhile, Obama made clear in his speech Tuesday night that he planned to continue pitching himself as an agent of change, someone uniquely qualified to heal the corrosive culture in the nation's capital. "We have to choose between change and more of the same," he said. "We have to choose between looking backwards and looking forwards. We have to choose between our future and our past." Describing his unnamed rival as someone who takes money from Washington lobbyists, who voted to authorize the war in Iraq and who gave President George W. Bush "the benefit of the doubt on Iran," he made clear which side of the divide Clinton was on.

Up next for the candidates: Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington, which vote on Saturday. Then comes the so-called Potomac Primary—Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.—which takes place next Tuesday. And also looming large on the horizon is March 4, when the delegate-rich states of Texas and Ohio vote. The spin wars have already begun. Obama's camp claims that it's well-positioned in states like Louisiana, with its large black population, and Virginia, where Gov. Tim Kaine has endorsed him. Meanwhile, Clinton's advisers see promise in Texas, with its large Latino population, and Ohio, where her economic message should resonate with voters. On Wednesday, Clinton was scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C.; Obama was planning on heading there as well as New Orleans. The Super Tuesday delegates weren't even tallied, but the candidates already had their sights set on the next battlegrounds.

Karen Breslau and Richard Wolffe

© 2008