PrintMarch 5, 2008
A Comeback - of sorts
And the race goes on.
Hillary Clinton won 3 of the 4 primaries at stake last night - including the vital Ohio and Texas contests - to extend her campaign another few weeks until at least the Pennsyvania primary of April 22:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Senator Barack Obama in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday, ending a string of defeats and allowing her to soldier on in a Democratic presidential nomination race that now seems unlikely to end any time soon.In fact, Hillary's huge win in Ohio has allowed her to creep within 95 delegates of Obama - still a considerable distance considering that she's running out of states and time. It seems virtually certain that Obama will end up with the advantage in the number of delegates at the end of the primary season in June. This means it will be up to the 350 or so uncommitted Super Delegates to make the call.
Mrs. Clinton also won Rhode Island, while Mr. Obama won in Vermont. But the results mean that Mrs. Clinton won the two states she most needed to keep her candidacy alive.
Her victory in Texas was razor thin and came only after most Americans had gone to bed. But by winning decisively in Ohio earlier in the evening, Mrs. Clinton was able to deliver a televised victory speech in time for the late-night news. And the result there allowed her to cast Tuesday as the beginning of a comeback even though she stood a good chance of gaining no ground against Mr. Obama in the hunt for delegates.
Such a scenario has the potential of ripping the Democratic party in two which is why Hillary's wins last night are the best thing that could have happened for the Republicans. The race will go on, Obama and Clinton both will be spending tons of money, they will continue to try and tear each other down, and the supporters on one side or the other are going to be very disappointed when they leave the convention in August.
The downside is that the Republican nominee John McCain will be virtually invisible thanks to the huge interest in the Democratic race with the media. But in a way, it is not criticial for McCain to be front and center for the next couple of months. He will have his opportunities for exposure, I'm sure - even if they have to manufacture a few. But McCain can do little as far as trying to define Obama or Clinton until one of them emerges as the nominee.
No matter what you think of Hillary Clinton, one has to admire her tenacity. With many in the party calling on her to drop out, she ignored that advice and promised wins in Ohio and Texas. She fought hard and won both states. If nothing else, last night's results showed that Hillary Clinton is not a quitter.
Next up are the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday where Obama is expected to do well and the Mississippi primary next Tuesday where the Illinois senator is expected to win easily. But then comes an interesting lull in the campaign - more than a month until the Pennsylvania primary. And if Hillary Clinton can pull off another big victory there, her case for the nomination only becomes stronger and will further polarize the party.
