Wednesday, March 05, 2008

The Contest Goes On

Clinton wins three out of four. But is that enough?

Texas holds a primary and a caucus. Who's bright idea was that? Obama won the caucus. In the end even though Clinton won the primary, Obama could end up with more delegates from Texas. And that is what really matters. It is great to win primaries but in this race it is going to be the delegate count that really matters.

That's why the Obama strategy of going after the caucus states was such a great idea. It shows the strength of his organization and the weakness of Clinton's.

There are a host of stories about the results in the press. This one makes an important point:

Clinton still faces daunting odds in her bid for the nomination. Obama began the day with a lead in pledged delegates that will be hard for her to overcome in the 12 primaries and caucus remaining, despite the results from the four states voting yesterday. But her advisers said that the big win in Ohio alone would force a serious look at both candidates and that the race was far from over.


This story focuses on the math to get the nomination:

Clinton wiped away the debate last night with a robust victory in Ohio and a narrow win in Texas. But as she vowed to keep campaigning, the tight vote in Texas signaled she may yet face a tough decision in coming weeks. The slim margin in the Texas popular vote and an additional caucus process in which she trailed made clear that she would not win enough delegates to put a major dent in Sen. Barack Obama's lead. And regardless of the results, she emerged from the crucible of Ohio and Texas with a campaign mired in debt and riven by dissension.


What it now comes down to are there enough contests left for Clinton to win so she can catch Obama in the delegate count. I just don't see how that happens. Unless of course there is a do-over in Florida and Michigan.

The bottom line: the contest goes on.

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