Barack Obama: Front Runner

McCain, appearing at a victory rally in Columbus, Ohio, wasted no time in effectively launching his general election campaign against Obama even before the Democratic results were in. "My friends, I'm the not the youngest candidate, but I am the most experienced," McCain said with a grin. "I know how the world works." While he did not name the Illinois senator, McCain attacked Obama implicitly for proposing "bombing our ally, Pakistan, and sitting down" with Iran.

McCain also echoed Clinton's assault on Obama's talent at speechmaking. "I will fight every moment of every day in this campaign to make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change," McCain said. And in another thematic strain that is likely to appear in the general election, McCain distanced himself from the Bush administration, implicitly suggesting that the president had lost the faith of the American people. The question for Americans, he said, is  "will we make the right changes to restore the people's trust in their government."

Obama now looks close to unstoppable, although he has far fewer than the required number of delegates for nomination. In Wisconsin he overcame attacks on his integrity by the Clinton camp, which in recent days had accused him of plagiarizing speeches by his friend, Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts. Obama has also been attacked by both Clinton and McCain for appearing to fudge on an earlier pledge to use only public financing if his GOP opponent did the same. But that did not appear to slow his momentum either.

In a conference call with reporters before the results were in, Clinton's advisers said they remain confident about their prospects in Texas, despite polls suggesting Obama is surging in the state. One aide, Howard Wolfson, rejected a reporter's assertion that Clinton's once strong support in the Hispanic community has been "dropping since Super Tuesday." Latino voters remain a force for Clinton, Wolfson said, arguing that the campaign hasn't seen any "evidence of support dropping" among Latinos. "Just being down there [on the ground in Texas] … I'll tell you, the enthusiasm and depth of support is just profound." He went on to cite Clinton's "history with the Hispanic community."

But Clinton's advisers did try to play down expectations once again, bucking the conventional wisdom by suggesting that while Clinton needs to win on March 4, she does not need to do so with large margins. Her pollster Mark Penn said that a poll showing Clinton with as much as a 20-point lead in Ohio is "rather generous in its outcome." He added that just winning Ohio, even if only by a small margin, would be "powerful in terms of superdelegates, who both candidates are going to need." But Hillary Clinton needs much more than that now: she needs a victory. It is a prospect that seems to be receding from her with every passing contest.

With Suzanne Smalley

© 2008