At this point, the dust has settled after Tuesday’s contests in Indiana and North Carolina. What’s the state of the Democratic race? Consider an anecdote: when Barack Obama was making the rounds on Capitol Hill yesterday, he stopped by the House to visit with lawmakers and shake a few hands.
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) greeted Obama with great enthusiasm, asking him to autograph a newspaper headline under an Obama photo that read, “It’s His Party.”
Clarke is one of Hillary Clinton’s superdelegates.
Consider another anecdote: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel was asked about Clinton’s quote about hard-working “white people,” and responded, “I can’t believe Sen. Clinton would say anything that dumb.” Shortly thereafter, he saw Obama on the House floor, and gave him a bear hug. Rangel is, of course, one of Clinton’s most enthusiastic supporters.
Both of the Democratic heavyweights were on the Hill yesterday, but given the reactions, one gets the sense that the party knows who the nominee will be and is ready to move on to the general election.
Even as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton persisted with her campaign for the nomination, Mr. Obama made a celebratory return to the Capitol, where he received an enthusiastic reception on the House floor in an appearance staged to position him as the party’s inevitable nominee.
Behind the scenes, there were new discussions between Mr. Obama and the party leadership. Senior Democratic officials said he met with Speaker Nancy Pelosi when their paths crossed at Democratic Party headquarters. They had spoken by telephone earlier in the week. Ms. Pelosi and Mrs. Clinton have had no known recent talks.
Obama went out of his way to make clear he had no interest in trying to pressure Clinton out of the race — any such efforts would be seen as disrespectful and would further deepen a party rift — but given the circumstances, he doesn’t even have to try.
Mr. Obama’s very public arrival in the House chamber on Thursday morning underscored the fact that the most important front in the Democratic nominating fight was suddenly Washington, where many of the superdelegates were milling around on the House floor voting on amendments to a housing bill.
And it was in marked contrast to Mrs. Clinton’s private meetings near the Capitol the day before as she sought to convert undecided lawmakers. Aides to Mr. Obama said they saw his visit as an opportunity to create an image of Mr. Obama as the soon-to-be-nominee. Elated members on the floor seemed to share that view.
“I think he is feeling comfortable and confident, and he should,” said Representative Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, an Obama backer. “My colleagues are beginning to really see him as the candidate. The consensus is that he is the nominee.”
On a related note, two more superdelegates — Reps. Brad Miller of North Carolina and Rick Larsen of Washington — announced their support for Obama, narrowing Clinton’s superdelegate edge (according to CNN’s count) to just seven. The Hill added that the Miller and Larsen endorsements means that Clinton has also lost her edge altogether among Democratic lawmakers.
I’d just add that the race has clearly taken a turn towards the general election. Imagine, for example, if Clinton’s awkward comments equating hard-working people with white people had occurred a few days before the Pennsylvania primary. The Obama campaign would have been all over it. Yesterday, they didn’t care at all. Clinton is simply no longer perceived as Obama’s rival; John McCain is.
Terry McAuliffe said the race will wrap up in early June, presumably after the last primary contests on June 3. But I think between now and then, the tone and tenor of the Democratic campaign will be entirely different from the one we’ve seen so far.
