"I feel good about where we are, David Axelrod said early Wednesday morning with a straight face. Obama's chief strategist can't really mean that. Yes, his man has won 28 primaries and caucuses, compared with 13 for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yes, Obama has won a very narrow majority of votes cast-leading by perhaps 300,000 or so out of 25 million cast. Yes, he has what may well be an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates.
Yes, but. Now Obama faces a fight all the way to Denver. He called Hillary to offer congratulations, and the two of them must have talked about how they want to keep the next couple of months civil. But I can't imagine that their campaigns will be able to honor whatever agreement they made.
If you are a movement candidate, and Obama is, you have to keep the movement going. And though he is ahead in delegates, his momentum has slowed to a crawl. He has a chance to revive it in Wyoming this weekend and Mississippi next week-both likely Obama victories.
But Pennsylvania becomes the next station of the cross. Obama starts way behind there, but he may yet have a chance to win it. I'll give you one reason why: my hometown of Pittsburgh. It's long since ceased to be a steel town. There isn’t a single mill left in the city. It is a big college town, and a hospital-and-health care city. The Philadelphia area has changed too, more upscale, educated and approachable by Obama.