11 in a row for Obama

[Old Dude]

Wins dems abroad ...

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.campaign22feb22,0,6122565.story

He gets 2.5 and Hillary gets 2, so he nets "half a delegate vote."

Nationally, Obama's delegate total - including "superdelegates" - increased to 1,358.5 Thursday. Clinton was at 1,264. It will take 2,025 delegates to claim the nomination.

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/022208/ELE_BFRRO3JF.046.php

[Old Dude]

Obama closing in on Hillary in Ohio.

This has him within 9 points:

http://www.whiotv.com/politics/15339714/detail.html

Rasmussen has him within 8:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/ohio/ohio_democratic_presidential_primary

This one has him within 7:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQ6hbgaL2XlahATWlfowQVOZzJHQD8UUVSQ01

If these polls are even remotely accurate, it's very bad news for Hillary.

Through most of 2007, Clinton's lead in Ohio was consistently between 20 and 30 points. By December, she was still leading Obama in Ohio polls by an average of almost 25 points. By late January, she was still up by 23. By mid-February, she was somewhere between 17 and 21 ahead, depending on which poll was used.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/oh/ohio_democratic_primary-263.html

The drop has been pretty dramatic, just in the past week.

[JCMElway]

I saw one pundit last night that said he would not be entirely surprised if Hillary did not get some sort of gain in polling, that she would drop out. Her concilliatory remark at the end of last night's debate has spurred a lot of conversation. Was she paving the way for bowing out? Was it strategy to make herself look above the fray? Was it actually a human moment for her?

Hmmmmm.......

If this thing is actually out of reach she could do herself a lot of political good if she bowed out now.

[Old Dude]

No way was that intended as a bow-out. Not in the same debate where she charged Obama with xeroxing his speeches.

[JCMElway]

Which was LAME.

[Old Dude]

Well, on the whole, it was pretty polite and most observers seemed to consider it a draw or very close with an edge to Hillary on the basis of her final comments.

She probably needed a knockout, though, and this was nowhere close.

Obama's campaign finances are in better order than hers and he can probably outspend her in the Ohio media by 2 or 3:1. Plus, he has the Texas caucus system (in the evening) where he can overcome whatever she accomplishes in the daytime primary.

It's really hard to see how she's going to get through March 4 with anything approaching the numbers she needs.