Tom Schaller on last night's results:
Barack Obama continued his undefeated run through the post-Super Tuesday states yesterday with comfortable, double-digit wins over Hillary Clinton of 23, 29 and 51 points in Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia, respectively, in the so-called "Potomac Primary." Most critical for the Obama campaign was his landslide win in Virginia, the state where demographics were supposed to have provided Clinton the best opportunity for a win.
"Tonight we won in the State of Maryland. We won in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And though we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won't stop in Washington, D.C., and tonight we're on our way," Obama told an estimated crowd of 17,000 cheering supporters in Madison, Wisconsin. "We also know at this moment the cynics can no longer say that our hope is false. We have now won east and west, north and south, and across the heartland of this country we love."
More telling is the fact that Obama proved he could be competitive among, or even win outright, constituencies that had previously tilted toward Sen. Clinton, including white voters, senior citizens, lower-income households, and rural areas. He even did well among Hispanics, the supposed Clinton demographic "firewall," winning them eight points in Virginia and losing them by just nine points in Maryland. Along with victories in five contests over the weekend, Obama now has a perfect eight-for-eight since he and Clinton essentially split the popular vote and delegate victories in the 22 contests of February 5.
Read the rest (and comment) here.
--The Editors
