The best thing a candidate can do is take an opponent's talking points away. Then they're just blubbering mouth pieces who forgot to read the morning paper. Another sweep next Tuesday and Barack Obama can do just that to Hillary Clinton.
One of the last things that Hillary is holding onto is the slim but very possible hope that she can force the Michigan and Florida delegates onto the convention floor and steal the nomination that way (these are the words I have chosen, deal with it). Why? Well, because she won there, and if she has a small deficit when the legitimate vote counting is done, she can retake the lead with her wins in the two deadbeat states that couldn't play nice with everyone else.
But pretty soon, if Obama should maintain his momentum, his campaign can make a kind gesture to express his benevolence without costing him the nomination at all.
First, we start with the delegate counts post-Chesapeake Tuesday:
NBC: Obama 1,078, Clinton 969
CBS: Obama 1,242, Clinton 1,175
ABC: Obama 1,232, Clinton 1,205
CNN: Obama 1,215, Clinton 1,190
AP: Obama 1,223, Clinton 1,198
Note:NBC has superdelegate estimates, but don't add them into the pledged delegate totals. BTW, I also think Democrats Abroad will come up big for Obama when they announce the results (if they haven't already), which will up all the margins by at least four or five delegates. The DA superdelegate, IMO, is also almost certain for Obama, but that's nothing more than a gut feeling from this ex-pat.
That means that the most conservative margin the media has come up with is a +25 delegate lead for Obama; the largest margin that includes superdelegates is Obama +67; NBC's policy of pledged delegates only skews the margin upwards to Obama +109.
Next, this Wikipedia article will tell you that Clinton's margin of victory in disqualified delegates is +38 (105-67; Edwards got 13).
Obama can propose, TODAY, a compromise that not only should make Clinton breathe a little easier, but also make the most sense if disqualified delegates are let back into the Pepsi Center: seat the Florida delegates, unconditionally.
They had a vote down there, all of the remaining candidates were on the ballot, the only thing was there was no campaigning allowed in the state. Not the best situation, but whatever. Let them in anyways.
Michigan, you have to wonder what to do with them. Neither Obama nor Edwards were on the ballot, so to say there was a fair election there is a harder sell. (if you want the number, it is Clinton beating "Uncommitted" 74-54)
When you do that, according to NBC and CBS, Obama still leads, and comfortably enough to take a not-so-gigantic hit in a big state such as Ohio or Texas in March. Under the most conservative models (like the AP total), all Obama needs to do is sweep Hawaii and Wisconsin next Tuesday to retake any lead lost by allowing Clinton to seat Florida.
Two things that Obama has going for him:
With the momentum, you have to bet on Obama at least closing the gap of Clinton's edge on superdelegates as the PLEOs get more and more nervous about a brokered convention, and see a Democrat who appeals to all demographics, as was the case along the Potomac last night.
Given the calendar and current shape of the race, it is hard to believe that Clinton could run up such a big score in Ohio, Texas AND Pennsylvania, so much so that the remaining states afterwards would be irrelevant. With eight straight wins in Obama's pocket (with two more potentially around the corner), and with North Carolina as the post-PA firewall (NC with 115 delegates), any Clinton gains in the three largest states left in play has a good chance of being negated depending on what momentum is left intact to carry into the 13 other races after next Tuesday.
Just for giggles, let's say Obama is completely magnanimous and calls for Michigan to be seated as well. A 20-delegate hit, automatically. At minimum, but I find it hard to believe that any of the uncommitted delegates will join the Hillary crowd; there was an entire stealth campaign in Michigan to vote for ABC. So let's say a difference of 20 delegates. Guess who has 26 waiting to be released to vote for whomever they want. Can you imagine any more than three of them going to Hillary?
Imagine what this kind of compromise will say in the media. That there is a candidate who isn't Hillary, who wasn't chock full of experience and connections, who didn't start out with the DLC machine, who can take two losses in key battleground states and still come out on top for the nomination.
And then imagine what Hillary's campaign is left to complain about when one of their chief arguments is turned null and void as the momentum on the other side rolls on unabated.