W(h)ither Hillary?

The Clinton camp is reeling: Obama now leads in terms of money, spending and pledged delegates. He's getting the bigger-name endorsements and appears to be the media's favorite. Hillary is now struggling to keep pace, and the erstwhile shoe-in is fighting for her campaign's viability. To be fair, the delegate numbers are very, very close, and Obama has not won the nomination by a long shot. As of right now, though, Hillary's short-term prospects are pretty bleak. Tomorrow, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC will hold their primaries, and Obama has a very comfortable lead in those areas. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Obama opens up a 150-delegate lead by Wednesday. Clinton is going to be in damage control mode until March 4th, when Texas and Ohio vote: she needs to win those states convincingly to keep her hopes alive.

I wouldn't write her off quite yet, however. While the GOP race isn't yet settled, the language coming out of GOP leadership is consistent with that of a party viewing things as a done deal: party leaders are trying to get the conservative wing to play ball with McCain, and are talking in terms of presenting a unified front in November. This is important because in states that have open primaries, there is the very real possibility that many of the GOP faithful will cross party lines and vote for Hillary, particularly in states like Texas. The simple fact of the matter is that the Republicans know that if it comes to McCain vs. Clinton, their odds are very, very good. They're not so confident if Obama wins the nod. If the GOP race is decided, they may want to set Clinton up for failure.