The Obama campaign can see the finish line.
On Tuesday, with 444 total delegates at stake, solid wins in Texas and Ohio can bring Barack Obama that much closer to the Democratic party nomination.
Senator Obama has moved to strike a knockout blow. He has outspent Senator Clinton nearly two to one in Ohio and Texas, after a February where he raised over $50M compared to $32M for Senator Clinton.
After 11 straight victories, Mr. Obama has seen the swell of momentum catapult him to frontrunner status. But some have said that momentum has wained in the past week, indicating that although Mrs. Clinton has not necessarily made up ground, she has quelled the current, for now.
Senator Obama is poised to score a knockout blow. But, should his campaign fail to secure victory in Ohio and Texas, momentum will be seen as swinging back into Mrs. Clinton’s favor. The race would likely come down to superdelegates, and her deep ties into the Democratic establishment would no doubt give her a significant advantage.
Senator Obama can face two losses in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday and continue in this race. Not so for Senator Clinton. Rumors are circulating that should she be unable to secure victories in both states, her top campaign advisers will urge her to concede. High-ranking Democratic supporters of Obama are urging Clinton to do the same if she loses so that the party can unite behind a single candidate. Mrs. Clinton has the edge in Ohio; Texas appears to be a toss-up.
Mrs. Clinton has changed her message (yet again), this time focusing on national security, a hot button issue often utilized by Republicans to mobilize voters after 9/11. Mr. Obama has focused on jobs and the economy, crucial issues faced by the Rust Belt degradation that has plagued Ohio. It will be interesting to see if Mrs. Clinton’s new message will resonate with voters who generally see the world as not being as dangerous as they have seen it in the past. If it does, she may be faced with the opportunity of striking at the vulnerability of the knockout punch.
