Barack Obama coasted to victory in Wisconsin and Hawaii. With ten victories in a row over Hillary Clinton, Obama is piling up pledged delegates. And pledged delegates is the name of the game.
In advance of the Wisconsin primary, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters:
We judge each contest on the delegates. We want to come out of Wisconsin able to maintain our pledged delegate lead.
Harvard Law Prof. Charles Ogletree, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, told me:
This is the most important victory of 2008. Hillary Clinton was ahead in Wisconsin by double digit figures. Young people, senior citizens, women and men decided Barack Obama is the only candidate who has a reasonable chance of winning the White House in 2008.
The combination of traditional Democratic voters, new young voters and independents has created an avalanche of support for Senator Barack Obama and his national campaign. He has been successful in all four regions of the country and in most cases he’s received 60 percent of the vote or more.
We’re looking forward to Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.
While Obama is clearly on a roll, he may still fall short of the magic number 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination. Not a problem, says Ogletree:
The Democratic Party will come together and embrace one candidate we collectively believe can take back the White House for the first time since the Bush years.
The fierce and appropriate campaign among the candidates will all be resolved after March 4, and there will be a united party going forward from April through November. Together we can win this.
Clinton is a fierce competitor and "fighter." But there is a dwindling number of states left to slow Obama's roll.
