After Super Tuesday

McCain's almost there and the Clinton-Obama match looks like Gallipoli. A few thoughts on where we're heading for here.

Clinton-Obama keep slugging it out, but Obama has a financial edge. He can place more ads--my spouse makes ads for Hillary--and he can put more troops on the ground thanks to a breathtaking January fundraising total of $32 million. Plus, Obama has proven that he owns caucuses, dominating last night's activist-dominated contests. Hillary can make a stand in the biggest states that are left including Texas, with its huge Hispanic population, and Ohio and Pennsylvania where the governors are supporting her.

Congress is a stage and an primary. If McCain is the nominee, then the next president is going to be a sitting Senator for the first time in 48 years. We've never had two sitting members of Congress run against each other in the modern era. All this means that Congress becomes a stage. Can Harry Reid force embarassing votes for McCain?Will Hillary and Obama get stuck voting for more war funding? Plus Congress is home to all those Democratic superdelegates so it's a place for campaigning as much as any state. Obama will have a compelling argument to those members from states that voted for him: Why aren't you representing your constituents? Clinton, who already has the majority of Superdelegates, has less ground to gain.

CPAC is Thursday. Tomorow is the start of the Conservqative Political Action Committee meeting. The always-packed meeting of activists will be especially important for McCain to prove his bona fides with conservatives. Last year, he came in last place in the CPAC straw poll. This is where he can begin to get the party activists on board. He already has a wide array of conservative leaders like Steve Forbes and Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Now he needs the real foot soldiers. If he gets a poor reception at CPAC, it's going to embolden Romney and Huckabee to stay in the race and build off of their wins last night.

Can the Clinton governors save her? Can Clinton's backing from Pennsylvania's Ed Rendell and Ohio's Tom Strickland translate into wins in those remaining huge states? Her Hispanic edge will help in Texas just as African Americans may put Obama over the top in North Carolina. But Ohio and Pennsylvania remain key battlegrounds. Both Strickland and Rendell would love to be veep. Would this be their payoff if they can win for Hillary?

We've never been here before.

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