…and it’s only just begun.
Hillary Clinton has won Ohio decisively, and with that the race for the Democratic presidential nomination will continue for at least another month, when she and Senator Barack Obama will battle in the next significant contest April 22nd in Pennsylvania.
Going into today, many were saying that Mrs. Clinton would need to win both Ohio and Texas in order to stay in the race. Throughout today, however, that viewpoint changed, and reports were saying that it would take losses in both states for Mrs. Clinton to consider an exit.
But now the Clinton campaign has emerged not just victorious in Ohio, but dominant. She is currently ahead by more than 16 percentage points. This is significant not only because winning Ohio effectively keeps her in the race, but because no president has ever been elected without carrying Ohio in a very long time.
Senator Obama is still very much in this race, but momentum has undoubtedly swung into Senator Clinton’s favor. After 12 straight losses, Senator Clinton will emerge from “Critical Tuesday” with momentum and will be nearly neck and neck will Mr. Obama in the delegate count.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has not just stopped the bleeding, but has found a way to do a lot of things right, something they haven’t been able to do for nearly three weeks. She launched the 3AM attack ad that seems to have swung late-deciding voters. She criticized Mr. Obama on his superior rhetorical skills, asserting that he lacked substance. Mr. Obama responded with more substance at the sake of rousing speeches and notable sound bites, and to be frank has appear of late to be, well, bland. Even her message in Ohio has seemed to resonate. The Rust Belt state has seen significant job loss and youth migration away from the state, yet Senator Clinton centered her message in Ohio on national security, perhaps indicating that Americans are still more respondent to national security issues than the economy.
Meanwhile, John McCain secured the Republican presidential nomination, gaining the 1,191 delegates needed to win the nod. The former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee conceded the race to Mr. McCain shortly after the Arizona senator won the state of Vermont and succeeded in taking enough delegates to win the nomination. Mr. McCain is slated to meet with President George W. Bush, where the president will endorse Mr. McCain to succeed him.
(As an aside, I’m listening to Hillary’s victory speech in Ohio right now, and I swear even the crowd sounds scripted. I’m totally willing to bet a YouTube inspired musical rendition will be virally spreading the internet tomorrow.)
Now, as we always find ourselves after nights like this, we are left with more questions than answers. Will Senator Clinton have enough momentum to carry her to Pennsylvania? Will Senator Obama be able to right the ship and regain the swagger and confidence it had in the last three weeks? How will the McCain campaign strategize now that the Democratic race is more wide open than it has been in nearly a month? Is there any possible way that the Democratic race won’t end up being decided by superdelegates in Denver in August (yes, August!!!)?
Alas, the answer to that final question seems to be “no.”
