Yet again, followers of the Democratic 2008 primary race are scratching their heads and staring in disbelief. Is there no way we can get a straight answer out of the electorate? Depending on how you interpret the results, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama won.
Clinton scored a slivers-worth advantage in the popular vote, and she scooped big in delegate-rich California, but Obama won more contests overall, most notably the bellwether state of Missouri. Clinton can claim to have slowed down her opponent's Big Mo, but Obama has clearly shaken the one-time locked-in frontrunner. Before the results began to pour in yesterday, folks from the Clinton camp were proposing weekly debates, which is never a good sign for a heretofore presumptive nominee. And just today we discover that Clinton padded her account with a loan of $5 million of her own money, and that some staffers are going without paychecks to help keep her campaign afloat. Even though we know never to underestimate a Clinton, this has been a hard week for her side.
After "Super Duper Tsunami Tuesday" things begin to slow down a bit, an advantage for Obama. As more voters get to know him, more turn away from Clinton. And he's overflowing with campaign contributions, enough to run an effective campaign in the air and on the ground anywhere in the country. Amazingly, we may see the first multi-ballot convention since 1952: a real treat when compared to the four-day infomercials we normally get. What a great race.
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