8 wins in a row, the outright lead in delegates for the first time, and a stable campaign team. Yes, it definitely looks like Senator Obama is in the driver's seat for the Democrat nomination.
I can understand Senator Clinton's strategy of abandoning the smaller primaries today to head to larger states, but those primaries are still weeks away, and the window for campaigning is still wide open. By essentially giving up today's states, she did nothing to stop Senator Obama's momentum, and surely can only work against her.
March 4 looms larger and larger on the Clinton side, and we will know for sure if the gamble paid off.
On the GOP side, I am still harboring hope of a McCain/Huckabee ticket. Tonight surely should send the message to Governor Huckabee that while still a mathematical possibility, his chances at the nomination grow slimmer and slimmer. I didn't take much math in college either, Guv'nor.
I do have a theory about how all this would unfold:
Here's my theory for the GOP side of things:
The news cycle is still stuck in the "McCain is not conservative enough" mode (thank you, Governor Romney--THAT more than anything else will be your legacy to this election). An election really need not be about labels, but labels are exactly what is becoming an issue on the Republican side, and that's a darned shame (and another topic for later discussion, maybe).
Thus, my theory, is that Senator McCain is going to wait until the summer before approaching and naming Governor Huckabee as his running mate. Timing is everything.
Naming him right now would seem to be a blatant attempt at courting the conservative vote and nothing more than an attempt to curry favor after the recent brouhaha over his conservative "credentials." Let them run head to head for a while, and then in the heat of the battle, let them come together. Thus you have the bridge to conservatives built, and the GOP shows that unlike the Dems, their candidates can come together amicably (c'mon, Senator Clinton, show some class), and bam, there's your ticket.
I feel that if the Republican candidates can come together like that, this unified ticket (and by extension, party) can do so much.
Edit: As I posted, Gov. Huckabee came on, and is still not giving up. "As of right now, nobody has the 1,191 delegates needed for the Republican nomination." Determined, that's for sure.
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