Obama ties Clinton in delegates and wins more states on the date when she had originally hoped to put the race away. That’s an overall win for Obama. But Hillary’s big victory in California made it no sweep, and Das Hillary Apparat lurches on to fight another day. The next wave of contests in DC, MD, VA, and WA look like favorable terrain for Obama. It is likely that Hillary will have to endure more hard losses for several weeks. Plus Obama’s money machine is on fire; it is conceivable that he’ll be able to outspend her by 60/40 or even better over the next wave of primaries. I am sticking with my longtime prediction that Obama is the eventual Democratic nominee, but Hillary’s survival ability is well proven and not to be underestimated. Obama has the rest of February to rack up some mid-sized wins and solve his big problem: how to expand his appeal to downscale white voters, older Democratic women, and Latinos. If he can manage that, Obama will win Ohio and Texas on March 4 and take true control of the race. If he fails, Clinton can recover and snatch victory from the slow tailspin she now faces. Pennsylvania could indeed be the clincher on April 22.
