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  Thwarting Obama: Texas and Ohio Show Candidate's Mortal Side

Thwarting Obama Texas and Ohio Show Candidate's Mortal Side

By Marc Pitzke in San Antonio, Texas

Barack Obama had planned his massive victory party on Tuesday in Texas. But Hillary Clinton's three-state victory spoiled it, ensuring that the fight for the Democratic nomination will continue -- much to the pleasure of the Republicans.

The stage was meant to be the one where the Democrats, at least unofficially, crowned Barack Obama as their candidate for the presidency. The monumental facade of San Antonio's Municipal Auditorium was cast in the glow of floodlights, and inside stood a pedestal and teleprompter along with two -- not just one -- grandstands for the press. It was meant to be a climactic victory celebration -- a kind of pre-inauguration after his rival had received the deadly ballot box blow.

Clinton, though, pulled out victories in three of the four states holding primaries and caucuses on Tuesday. And in the end, the stage was large, but the appearance small. The scenes in San Antonio -- in what proved to be the most brutal primary election yet this season -- couldn't have been any more ironic. Before this almost punishingly arrogant stage, and after 11 straight wins, Obama was forced to concede that -- after losing to Hillary Clinton in three states on Tuesday night -- he is in fact, is a mere mortal. The admission, though had to be read between the lines. Suddenly you could no longer hear him saying, "As president I will …" Instead, he offered: "If I become the candidate of this party."

Nevertheless, Obama impressively succeeded in closing the gap between himself and Clinton, which ran in the double digits in her favor only a few weeks ago. But that wasn't enough for a breakthrough. American voters don't seem entirely ready to chose their Democratic candidate -- instead they are sending them to the next rounds of primaries in Wyoming, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

On Tuesday, Obama seemed to have conceded to the inevitability of a further contest. "You know what my head tells me is that we've got a very sizeable delegate lead that is going to be hard to overcome," he said aboard his private jet as it flew towards San Antonio. Describing Clinton as a "tough opponent" and "tenacious campaigner," he said he would campaign until the very end, that he didn't want to "jump the gun."

For as long as it lasts. Indeed, the primaries will continue -- at least until April 22, when voters in swing state Pennsylvania are slated to go to the ballot box. While the Republicans have already given John McCain what is more or less their official blessing, the Democrats still face a bitter primary battle. And that's all free ammunition for McCain.

Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, is predicting a "heated race in November." He's also trying to put a positive spin on the situation, but this is in no way positive for the Democratic Party.

After all, it was Clinton's merciless negative attacks that helped her to pull ahead in what had become a neck-and-neck race in the state. Her notorious "red telephone" spot shows children sleeping safely at home as a phone rings at the White House -- a new international crisis. "Your vote," the narrator says, "will determine who answers that phone call and whether it's someone who already knows the world's leaders, knows the military, someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world." The ad seeks to undermine Obama's implicit lack of foreign policy competence. She also tenaciously poked holes in Obama's statements -- most notably his see-sawing position on the NAFTA free trade agreement and his failure to respond quickly enough to related criticism.

Clinton's broadsides, which will now likely become much tougher, put Obama in a Catch 22 situation. He is refusing to run a negative campaign, no matter what comes. "He's sworn to it," former presidential advisor David Gergen reiterated on Tuesday night. But one must be just as aggressive to counter those attacks, as Texas and Ohio clearly demonstrated. Smiling, sighing, dismissing everything -- that is no longer enough.

But if he now cranks up the volume and goes negative -- and some of his strategists have already hinted that they have plenty of dirt on Clinton that they have so far voluntarily kept under wraps -- he would be betraying his loyalist followers. He would also lose what has made him so attractive. "He's different from all the others," says philosophy student Jane Braddock in San Antonio.

Indeed, on Tuesday, Obama didn't seem prepared to put on the boxing gloves. "The world is watching what we do here," he said. "The world is paying attention to how we conduct ourselves, what we say, how we treat one another."

But as he says it, he seems furious, spiteful and irritated. With his words, he wants show his will to stay the course. Tuesday's results have thrown Obama's plans far off track.

Behind the scenes this week, he has feverishly attempted to get a group of superdelegates – party leaders and officials whose votes can end a stalemate – to publicly declare their support for him, thus sealing the race for the nomination. But for now, the superdelegates are keeping silent – waiting to see how things further progress.

Clinton, meanwhile, will be able to use this time to take advantage of her Tuesday victories to build fresh momentum – even if Obama still has the majority of the delegates. Even if she does face an uphill battle.