The Democratic Race After Nevada

Even though Obama comes out of Nevada as the winner of delegates, Hillary still gets the win in the press--as she should. However, the waters have been muddied a bit by what is being called in some circles a "split-decision".
And make no mistake about it, delegates are extremely important.

So, what does Nevada mean? Almost nothing. But here are a few quick observations on the state of the race:

1. Hillary is, as of today, the front-runner for the nomination.

2. Hillary's momentum from Nevada was killed by three factors:

A. Her campaigns relentless attack on the Nevada caucus process, belittling the results of the race before they were known.

B. The Obama campaign's brilliant--and quick-- strategy of claiming a delegate victory, effectively deflecting the media narrative from a decisive Hillary win to the topic of delegates.

C. The fact that the caucus was held on a Saturday and opposite the bigger media event of the day, the Republican South Carolina primary.

3. Obama absolutely MUST WIN South Carolina. If he does the race starts back at zero going into the Feb. 5 states. If he doesn't, Hillary starts a sprint toward the nomination.

4. Edwards is officially done. He WILL NOT get the nomination. The longer he stays in, the more he looks like a vanity candidate. There is some talk of him being a kingmaker at the convention, but after the results from yesterday, he may not have enough delegates to swing the race one way or another.