The democratic presidential race is playing out like a high stakes game of monopoly – where both sides have enough money and key properties to continue to trade blows, stay in the game, and keep the stalemate going. The Obama camp is still ahead in delegates while the Clinton camp now has momentum and key wins in important big states.
How did Clinton pull off her wins in Ohio and Texas? She won the economy debate big and was able to execute several tactical wins (NAFTA, Negative Ads, Rezko Scandal, etc.) that made voters question Obama. See Ten Reasons Obama Slipped for a nice breakdown on Clinton's tactics.
It will be interesting to see how Obama responds. Obama needs to win PA to turn the tide. He needs to retool, get more aggressive, and change the story. Obama has to show that he can respond quickly to having the "kitchen sink" being thrown at him. He has lost momentum and while his inspirational change message still has legs, it's not enough. A broad hope message won't work in midwestern states where people have lost jobs - It's nitty gritty specifics time.
Stay tuned – for now, Republicans have grabbed their bag of popcorn and really love the fact that Democrats are spending gobs of money on their own race as opposed to McCain.
