In a surprise twist after a chaotic Super Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in network tallies of the number of delegates the candidates racked up last night. The Obama camp projects topping Clinton by nine delegates, 845 to 836. NBC News, which is projecting delegates based on the Democratic Party’s complex formula, figures Obama will wind up with 840 to 849 delegates, versus 829 to 838 for Clinton.
As I sat through primary returns last night, it seemed clear that exactly nothing would be cleared up by Super Tuesday. Overall, the evening seemed to be a draw. Hillary Clinton scored a few significant victories, as did Barack Obama. I’d been hoping- rather naively, it would seem- that Super Tuesday would provide an indication of the direction the Democratic race is heading. Instead, there are even more questions now than there were prior to Super Tuesday. I’ve seen several different delegate counts; some indicate Clinton with a lead, some show Obama on top. Who really knows at this point?
In the PR battle, I would take this as a defeat for Sen. Clinton, as the previously perceived “heir apparent” has seen her aura of “inevitability” destroyed. She’s in for a fight, which may well go all the way to the convention…and when’s the last time that states with May and June primaries were actually considered relevant to the nomination process?
The longer ths battle continues, the better I believe it will be for Sen. Obama. Over the past few weeks, he’s succeeded in making significant inroads against Sen. Clinton’s “inevitability factor”. Personally, I’m enjoying the fact that the Democratic primary season appears to be going into overtime compared to what’s previously been the case at this point. I believe that time is on Sen. Obama’s side, and that it will work to Sen. Clinton’s disadvantage- not that the next few weeks won’t be highly entertaining. It will test both candidates, which can only stand them in good stead after Labor Day, when the fun REALLY begins. Whoever comes out on top (and I’m still pulling for Sen. Obama) will have the whole campaigning thing down cold, which can only help them in the general election.
Stay tuned, y’all; this ought to be fun….