North Carolina and Indiana primaries: Who will emerge with the upper hand?

The Associated Press

Can anybody win this thing?

Featured Topic | Posted 1 week 3 days ago

North Carolina and Indiana primaries: Who will emerge with the upper hand?

Indiana and North Carolina go to the polls today -- but nobody is expecting a clean answer to the (perhaps unanswerable) question: Who will be the Democratic Party's nominee for president? Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Can anybody land a knockout blow in this thing?

Ben likes: Predictions for a Clinton win

Dean Barnett/The Weekly Standard

A couple of related predictions:

1) If Hillary wins by double digits in Indiana and squeaks out a victory in North Carolina, she will give the Democratic super-delegates much to ponder. Pat Caddell observed after the Lioness’ most recent victories, “The nomination process is not a suicide pact.” Caddell can't be the only Democratic poobah harboring such sentiments.

2) If the super-delegates do take a fresh look at Hillary while simultaneously deciding that Obama is too weak a candidate to take a flyer on in a year that should be a slam dunk for the Democratic party, Hillary's strange new respect from the right will have a life expectancy best measured in hours as opposed to weeks or months

Joel likes: Fighting a good fight

E.J. Dionne/Washington Post

At this crucial moment, the Democratic presidential battle is an enigma wrapped in two ironies.

The first: Hillary Clinton found a compelling voice and a plausible strategy only after she had squandered her chances of winning the nomination without a divisive struggle over superdelegates and convention rules. It took a series of defeats to galvanize her campaign and help her put forward a better self.

The second: Clinton’s embrace of a gas tax holiday has endowed Barack Obama with a sense of purpose and a burst of energy at precisely the moment when his battered campaign seemed lethargic and reactive. Standing up to a proposal that even Clinton supporters see as pandering has allowed Obama to revisit his most successful days as a fresh voice uninhibited by Washington’s habits.

The old, inspiring Obama was clearly capable of beating the old, overconfident Clinton. The pugilistic Clinton turned the recently listless Obama into a pushover. But a contest between the old Obama and the new Clinton is a fair fight. It’s too bad only a few states are left to see it.