Obama raises sights with preparation for McCain debates
For the first time Barack Obama has overtaken Hillary Clinton amongst the pledged super delegates by 276 to her 274 in what marks the most important psychological milestone of this campaign.
Having been unable to beat him in the popular vote or with pledged delegates, Hillary always put her faith in the party bigwigs to haul her over the finishing line. For the first time in this electoral cycle Obama has surpassed her in what must surely be the final signal that this race is truly over.
With this in mind Obama appeared to be looking forward to his campaign against McCain in the coming months, and has arranged a series of debates with Senator McCain which one can't help thinking will play to Obama's strengths.
Axelrod said his camp was in discussions with McCain on the Republican's proposal for a series of town hall debates. The proposal would potentially match Obama and McCain on several more occasions than the usual schedule of three televised debates for a presidential election.
It would also maintain the momentum of an election season which began far earlier than in any other year. The unmoderated debates under discussion would start even before Obama is formally named the Democratic nominee at the party's convention in late August.
Obama visits Missouri tomorrow to emphasise how important such states will be come November, even as Hillary and her advisers attempted to play up the importance of victory in West Virginia where she leads Obama by as much as forty points.
Clinton has tried to cast West Virginia as a pivotal contest - even though its meagre haul of delegates will do little to alter the maths of this Democratic race. "If Barack Obama wants Hillary Clinton out of this race, beat her in West Virginia," a Clinton adviser, Howard Wolfson, told Fox television yesterday. "It is a key swing state."But Obama is no longer even bothering to play Clinton's game. The race is over and she can throw down as many ultimatums as she wants, his eye is now on a different contest, he is now viewing the final battle for the White House with John McCain.
And a series of unmoderated debates will suit his style perfectly. The man both McCain and Hillary have dismissed as "just talk" will do very well when pitched one on one with McCain.
There's also something highly fitting about the fact that Hillary should be petulantly insisting nothing matters more than the next contest which she is guaranteed to win, whilst Obama gracefully moves on to the next challenge, giving her not a second glance.
For far too long in this competition Hillary has been allowed to state what she thinks is the most important measurement, during which she has dismissed states for not being likely to vote Democrat in November, for being too black and for being latte drinking intellectuals.
At long, long last Obama is simply ignoring her as the embarrassing Auntie at the party who has had slightly too much sherry and is simply talking nonsense.
"She makes a compelling case for her candidacy. But you can't make a compelling case for the math," John Edwards, who ended his campaign for the White House earlier this year, told CBS television.Hillary will have to stand down very soon, if only because no-one is listening to her anymore. Her most rabid supporters continue to throw down gauntlets but, like Hillary, they have become an irrelevance.
In the end, "the maths problem" - which they treated with such disdain - has bit them on the ass.
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