Taking a Punch

Barack Obama not only nearly clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, he also answered a big question about the fall campaign. The glass jaw that Hillary Clinton and John McCain thought they saw turned out to be an illusion. In the jingle of the old Timex watch ads, he took a licking and kept on ticking.

Oh, what a difference a week makes. April 28 was only last week, but it feels like six months ago. That was the day Obama got hit by a one-two punch. First, his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, dominated the airwaves with his offensive rant. The same day brought news that Hillary had decided to join McCain in calling for a summer gas tax holiday, sure to be popular with voters angry about high costs at the pump.

For the first time since February, Clinton seemed to have a real shot at the nomination. Still reeling from his big loss in Pennsylvania, Obama was battered by charges that he was elitist and disconnected from a big chunk of the Democratic Party. From bad bowling to "bitter" to arugula eater to disciple of an America-hater, he seemed to be floundering.

May 6 looked ominous. With African-Americans making up only 9 percent of Indiana Democratic voters, Obama was in deep trouble there, behind in the polls and slipping. North Carolina was also headed in the wrong direction, with some surveys showing only a five-point Obama lead. In most earlier primaries, including those he won, Obama slipped further on the last weekend. Even his closest aides thought Indiana and North Carolina would be no different.

Last week not a soul in politics would have predicted that Obama would win North Carolina by 14 points and virtually tie in Indiana. But through a combination of luck and smarts, the campaign ended on the theme that Obama ran on: old politics vs. new politics.

By conventional standards Clinton was in the groove, focusing on bread-and-butter issues and pummeling Obama for being out of touch with angry motorists. Many pundits reported that "the working girl" was "on fire" and on the move.