Bringin' out the Brooms

It shouldn't come as a surprise to many people, but Sen. Barack Obama swept the states at stake tonight, Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana, as well as the Virgin Islands. The exact number of delegates varies according to several calculations, but all can agree that Obama is digging into this lead and it is not wise to think the Clintons will hold on to this delegate lead for much longer.

Obama routed chief rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in Nebraska and Washington, as the Illinois Senator received approximately 68% of the vote in those two states. In Louisiana, it was closer, but still a huge win for Obama. With 92% of precincts reporting, Obama holds a 56%-37% lead over Clinton in Louisiana.

Tomorrow, Maine caucuses are going to be held. Next Tuesday, primaries in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia will be held. All appear to be Obama-friendly states. This essentially means that it is feasible that Clinton could go without a win for the next week or two. As we see Obama cutting in and cutting in to this lead, we may actually see a change in the superdelegates.

For those of you who don't know what a superdelegate is, it is an elected official who has the ability to change his or her position. As you may know, the superdelegates are what have been giving Clinton this slight edge. Obama may decide to shake up the superdelegate tree and tell them, "Don't you want to be with us when take the lead in delegates?"

I don't mean to make this even more complicated, but even the pledged delegates are not even "pledged" as they seem. They have not written their candidate of choice in blood. If they decide to change their candidate, they won't be arrested or anything like that. However, there is still a reason why we call them "pledged delegates." This election has thrown its share of surprises, and there are undoubtedly more to come.

I expect Obama to continue to ride this wave of momentum he is on. Obama raised over $30 million in January without lobbyists while Hillary Clinton has had to donate $5 million to her own campaign. Things aren't the way they once seemed. Barack Obama's that scrappy little team that you can never get rid of. You can lead them by double digits, but they fight back. Who knows, they might even pull off an upset.

On Tuesday, February 19, primaries in Washington and Wisconsin are held, as well as caucuses in Hawaii. This leads up to what some call "Junior Tuesday." On March 4, primaries in big states such as Ohio and Texas are held, as well as in Rhode Island and Vermont. It should be interesting to watch, so let's see how this all plays out.