The Inevitability of Obama

Wisconsin didn't help Hillary.

Wisconsinites had an opportunity today to slow down the Barack Obama Empty Talk Express.

They didn't. They jumped on board.

From the Associated Press:

Barack Obama cruised past a fading Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wisconsin primary Tuesday night, gaining the upper hand in a Democratic presidential race for the ages.

It was Obama's ninth straight victory over the past three weeks — with results unknown from the Hawaii caucuses — and left the former first lady in desperate need of a comeback in a race she long commanded as front-runner.

"The change we seek is still months and miles away," Obama told a boisterous crowd in Houston in a speech in which he also pledged to end the war in Iraq in his first year in office.

"I opposed this war in 2002. I will bring this war to an end in 2009. It is time to bring our troops home," he declared.

In a race growing increasingly negative, Obama cut deeply into Clinton's political bedrock in Wisconsin, splitting the support of white women almost evenly with her. According to polling place interviews, he also ran well among working class voters in the blue collar battleground that was prelude to primaries in the larger industrial states of Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Clinton made no mention of her defeat, and showed no sign of surrender in an appearance in Youngstown, Ohio.

"Both Senator Obama and I would make history," the New York senator said. "But only one of us is ready on day one to be commander in chief, ready to manage our economy, and ready to defeat the Republicans. Only one of us has spent 35 years being a doer, a fighter and a champion for those who need a voice."

In a clear sign of their relative standing in the race, most cable television networks abruptly cut away from coverage of Clinton's rally when Obama began to speak in Texas.

There's no question that the media are in love with Obama. Of course they cut away. I wonder if Obama's win gave Chris Matthews that special feeling, "I felt this thrill going up my leg."

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Drawing support from a wide swath of voters in an ultra-competitive Midwestern battleground, Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Wisconsin Primary Tuesday, giving him nine straight victories and a strong upper hand in their fierce struggle for the Democratic nomination.

The Associated Press called the state for Obama just before 8:30 p.m. Milwaukee time.

Expected to win a majority of the state's 74 pledged delegates, Obama also demonstrated the kind of broad appeal that will be critical in the big showdown states ahead, especially Ohio on March 4.

That coalition included groups that have backed him in past contests: young voters, independents and the college-educated.

But in a brief, sharp-edged campaign here, Obama also made inroads among women and blue-collar voters, who have more typically backed Clinton.

He won half of all voters without a college degree - about 60% of the Democratic electorate. He won half of those with family incomes under $50,000. He dominated among white men -- 59% to 38%. And he battled Clinton to a draw among women.

All of these groups were components of an overwhelmingly white electorate with a very dark view of the economy. It was also an electorate hungry for change, a political current that exit polls showed decisively favored Obama.

As expected, Wisconsin's open primary proved a boon to the Illinois senator. Independents (27%) and Republicans (9%) together made up more than a third of the Democratic Primary electorate - almost the exact same breakdown as in the 2004 primary here.

Obama carried independents by about 30 points, according to the exit polls.

I'm an independent. Although I will vote for John McCain in November, I voted for Hillary.

Does that make me a maverick, since independents went for Obama by an overwhelming margin but I didn't?

It's not the first time I voted for a Clinton, but it probably is the last.

This looks like it could be the end of the road for Hillary's presidential hopes. I'm disappointed that she didn't do better in Wisconsin. This was her chance to put the brakes on Obama's momentum. Instead, she was trounced.

March 4 is now do or die for her.

Right now, the smart money is probably on die. Obama is looking inevitable.
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A blast from the not too distant past: The Inevitability of Hillary