Riding The Wave

Barack Obama has moved ahead of Hillary Clinton in the race for delegates to the Democratic National Convention and his supporters now say Clinton can't catch him in the delegate race unless she wins Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries by 3-to-1 margins and that, they say, won't happen.

In the civil war of the Democratic nominating season, Tuesday night’s Potomac Primary was Gettysburg.

That’s the argument Obama’s campaign was making Wednesday, saying the Illinois senator’s three-contest sweep of the Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. primaries marked a “decisive” turning point in his battle with Clinton.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said on a conference call that it is now “next to impossible” for Clinton to close Obama’s lead in pledged delegates.

“We couldn’t be in a stronger position right now, and the last really five days, we believe, will be looked back at as a very decisive period in the nomination contest,” Plouffe said. “We think it really put us on the path to the nomination.”

Obama has won seven straight contests since Saturday, not counting the Virgin Islands, and on Tuesday he took the lead in overall delegates for the first time since the primary and caucus season began last month.

The latest Associated Press tallies show Obama with 1,223 delegates and Clinton with 1,198. It takes 2,025 to seal the nomination.

The difference appears negligible, but Clinton has found herself on the defensive.

The New York senator is staking her campaign on big wins in Ohio and Texas, which hold their primaries on March 4, along with two other states.

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