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Barack Obama bested Hillary Clinton again last night by very wide margins (seventeen points in Wisconsin, 52 points in Hawaii), cutting into her core constituencies. (John Heilemann broke it all down.) Basically, Obama captured every demographic: men, women, whites, blacks, the educated, not as educated, dog people, cat people, children, mannequins, ghosts, etc. So, once again, the pundits are left pondering whether the Clinton campaign can pull a McCain-esque resurrection and overcome the ever-expanding Obama juggernaut or whether this primary campaign will at some point in the near future finally, mercifully, come to an end.
• Michael Crowley says Clinton’s last chance, though a long shot, may be the sympathy of voters in Ohio and Texas. [Stump/New Republic]
• Craig Crawford writes that Clinton used Wisconsin as a test lab to find an effective attack on Obama — and that she needs to keep looking. [Trail/CQ Politics]
• Karen Tumulty reports that a Clinton official doesn’t think her candidate’s attacks against Obama (plagiarism, campaign-finance flip-floping, ducking debates) failed, but that they just need time to seep in. [Swampland/Time]
• Chuck Todd and friends report on the mounting divide inside the Clinton campaign: On one side is Mark Penn, who doesn’t want to hold anything back against Obama, and on the other are Maggie Grunwald and Howard Wolfson, who don’t want to ruin Clinton’s legacy in the event of a future run. [First Read/MSNBC]
• Matthew Yglesias thinks Obama’s general-election vulnerabilities will be more closely scrutinized over the next two weeks, especially with McCain attacking him, giving Clinton at least some kind of advantage going forward. [Atlantic]
• Chris Cillizza points out that Obama and Clinton ran about even among Democrats (51 for Obama, 48 for Clinton), which may give her campaign a slim hope for victory or at least something to spin their way. [Fix/WP]
• John Hood thinks the Clinton campaign has a few things going for it, at least in their minds: They still think they can get John Edwards and seat Michigan and Florida at the convention, and they’ve convinced the media to wait for the big March states before calling the race. And in the end, Obama’s delegate lead might be narrow enough to overcome with superdelegates. [Corner/National Review]
• John Dickerson notes that now that Obama has won over working-class voters, Clinton will have a tough time convincing superdelegates he’ll have a hard time in the general election. [Slate] —Dan Amira
For a complete guide to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and now John McCain — from First Love to Most Embarrassing Gaffe — read the 2008 Electopedia.
