The Day After

Analysis from Chuck Todd: "One thing that jumps out at us is his [Obama's] performance in mostly white Indiana counties north of Indianapolis. He either won them or did much better than we expected. While he still struggled against Clinton in areas south of Indianapolis, his performance north of the city demonstrated his potential in the Midwest. Also, Obama improved with Catholics. After losing that group 70%-30% in Pennsylvania and 63%-36% in Ohio, Obama narrowed that margin to 59%-41% in Indiana; in fact, he won the county that includes South Bend. And the gas-tax debate also appears to have been a winner for Obama. Besides overshadowing (a bit) the Wright story over the days leading into last night’s contests, the debate played into Obama’s core message (that he will change the way Washington works) and played into Clinton’s chief negative (that she’ll say and do anything to win)." He notes that the Wright obsession--and these are my words because I'm tired of the "cultural differences" circumlocution--gave racists permission to express themselves, so "You have to wonder how much he would have WON Indiana by if 1) there was no Wright controversy or 2) he had more time."

Clinton lent her campaign another $6.5 million in May, including $450,000 in the past few days, indicating the campaign is really broke. She's also lent the equivalent of her personal earnings. The law allows her to donate half of her income to her campaign, but she's got the joint account to tap.

Lawrence O'Donnell says that Clinton will stay in the race until June 15. Hillary's campaign is still playing race. Score one for Rachel Madow.

Obama got four super-delegates so far today, including one switching from Hillary. The first party elder--George McGovern--has publicly urged Clinton to drop out. And there may be more to come. In a real warning, Senator Dianne Feinstein says she wants to talk to Hillary about her "strategy" for the rest of the campaign. Feinstein is a long-time Hillary supporter, and the California super-delegates are numerous. It's expected that the House members will follow Nancy Pelosi's lead. Now it will be interesting to see what Barbara Boxer does--whether she wants to take the lead in declaring for Obama.

Newspaper sentiment today mirrors the cable news pundits of last night is saying that the race is essentially over. Joan Vennochi writes in the Boston Globe:" It's decision time for Hillary Clinton. Will she accept reality and Barack Obama’s near-clinch of the Democratic nomination? Or will she embrace a “Sunset Boulevard” fantasy world, playing a political Norma Desmond who continues to dream of a triumphant return to the Oval Office? "

Scot Lehigh, another Globe columnist wrote: Last night, reality caught up with Hillary Clinton. The question now is how long it will take for that reality to sink in.Barack Obama's big win in North Carolina, combined with the late night/early morning drama that turned Indiana into only the narrowest of wins for Clinton, did three important things: It ended any sense of momentum she had generated with her sizable victory in Pennsylvania.
It demonstrated that, at least as far as the relevant Democratic primary voters were concerned, Obama has survived the controversy over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's incendiary remarks.
And in doing both those things, it obliterated the arguments Clinton hoped to use to sway the superdelegates.

Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist:

Wright flight stopped. Barack Obama came out of North Carolina and Indiana with renewed hopes of regentrification. It was another message that America is struggling toward a better self.

We have had nearly two months of unprecedented media trolling and pollster polling for the damage that Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, did to Obama with white voters. It was unprecedented in the sense that there never has been similar trolling and polling over the associations of white candidates with bigoted religious figures. It was as if a significant chunk of the media and pollsters were daring America to rear its ugliest head. White voters responded by saying, enough is enough."