Obama's momentum to be tested

The voting going on today in Maryland, DeeCee and Virginia is being called the Potomac Primary by the media. In the presidential primaries and caucuses in other states, to date, the turnout and enthusiasm that has surrounded the Democrats’ contests has made the Republicans look rather disinterested/depressed. No doubt, some of that passion has been due to the Bush White House’s long list of failures.

Perhaps a bigger factor has been the Barack Obama phenomenon. So far, Obama's ability to inspire young/new voters looks off-the-charts. Going in, the polls say Obama will win in all three primaries. Then again, polls for primaries can be way off.

Polls and pundits aside, now we’ll see whether Sen. Clinton's 35 years of experience/baggage can produce an upset and make her Virginia’s preferred Democrat to face the GOP’s presumptive candidate Sen. John McCain, or not. If Sen. Obama does pull off a hat trick today, it will add much to the perception that his support is snowballing everywhere.

With new polls suggesting Mr. Obama would fare better than his opponent in a general election pitted against Mr. McCain, the inevitability of Mrs. Clinton’s supposed cakewalk through the nominating process continues to evaporate in the bright lights.

My expectation is that this trend will continue.

Perhaps anticipating three more losses, Clinton is reported to have said yesterday in Maryland, “I am absolutely looking to Ohio and Texas, because we know that those are states where they represent the broad electorate in this country.”

In spite of Clinton’s deep-pocketed resources, it is looking more and more like Americans will be looking at an Obama vs. McCain matchup in November.