photo courtesy roblord

In Tuesday’s primaries, both Barack Obama and John McCain took steps toward the inevitable showdown that will see those two face off in November’s general election by winning in both Wisconsin and Hawaii. Obama, riding a swell of momentum, took his 10th straight victory, while McCain increased his seemingly insurmountable lead over Mike Huckabee.

For McCain, the victories seem to cement his place as the Republican candidate, a fact that has been widely accepted by most pundits in the past few weeks. For Obama, though, Tuesday may have marked the first point in the Democratic contest in which he could be considered, nearly across the board, as the clear front-runner of the race. This has close to everything to do with the brilliant work of his campaign staffers in recent weeks. Somehow, a feeling has crept up on America. The momentum swing is one that, of course, is marked by a string of successful primaries. The absolute confidence that seems to be surrounding the campaign at this moment, though, goes beyond the delegate count (which Obama is now currently winning 1,302 to 1,235) and ventures into the territory of image. While Hillary Clinton’s campaign has faced shake-ups and has engaged in increased criticism, Obama has been enjoying the fruits of a campaign strategy that may be remembered as one of the most well-planned ever, seemingly designed to maintain a close race before pulling away with amazing performances in the post-Super Tuesday states, having never given him the chance to experience a Dean-like implosion. Case in point: after Tuesday’s results, Obama gave a speech that talked about the future in very foreseeable terms;  Clinton did not mention Wisconsin.