It is looking more and more like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama will be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee come August. If that happens, in large part Obama will have Wisconsin to thank.
Obama didn't only win the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, a night on which he recorded his 10th consecutive win. He rolled, with a margin of victory over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of 58 percent to 41 percent.
Obama came to Wisconsin with momentum, to be sure. But he still was an underdog in the Dairy State, where polls two weeks ago showed Clinton with a slight lead.
What happened after that in Wisconsin is indicative of what is happening nationally in the Democratic Party, and perhaps across the political landscape.
Obama was here first, opening his Wisconsin campaign in a jam-packed Kohl Center on the UW-Madison campus. Neither Hillary Clinton nor the former president was able to generate the kind of buzz or crowd that Obama did that night.
Hillary Clinton didn't arrive in Wisconsin until last Saturday. Once she was here, she campaigned hard for the state Democrats' vote, but it might have been too little, too late. An ominous sign for her prospects may have come when a crowd member asked her daughter, Chelsea, at a Madison rally why they hadn't seen her mother in Wisconsin yet.
Once the campaign spotlight focused on Wisconsin, something interesting started happening in the polls. Obama steadily gained, even after Clinton's campaign went on the attack about debates and accused the Illinois senator of plagiarizing portions of his stump speech. In the end, even women's votes - which in previous states had gone overwhelmingly to Clinton - were split between the two candidates.
Wisconsin wasn't a must-win state for Clinton, but it was awfully close to being one. Having lost eight consecutive contests coming into this campaign, she could have used a victory to stem Obama's tide going into pivotal March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas. A few weeks ago, Wisconsin seemed like a solid opportunity for Clinton with its high percentages of white and lower-income voters - groups she previously fared well with. But that support eroded, too, as the cold Wisconsin days went on.
Now, polls are indicating Clinton's lead is beginning to evaporate in Texas and Ohio, too. Texas polls show an extremely close race. Clinton still has a significant lead in Ohio polls, but the electorate there is in many ways similar to Wisconsin's.
In Wisconsin, Obama's message of hope and change appealed to a broader range of voters than in many previous states. His speeches and campaign also became more substantial - particularly with an economic revival proposal he unveiled during an appearance at the Janesville GM plant. He also showed that negative attacks may not be working against him now, and perhaps not in the fall either.
The vote totals in Wisconsin also have to be of concern to the Republican Party. More than 1.1 million people cast Democratic Party ballots Tuesday, more than double the number that voted Republican. With Wisconsin being what some people call a "purple" state - a combination of Republican red and Democratic blue - that is a problem the Republican Party must address.
All of these trends were apparent in Wisconsin, which ended up being a significant player in the 2008 primary season.
Obama didn't only win the Wisconsin primary on Tuesday, a night on which he recorded his 10th consecutive win. He rolled, with a margin of victory over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of 58 percent to 41 percent.
Obama came to Wisconsin with momentum, to be sure. But he still was an underdog in the Dairy State, where polls two weeks ago showed Clinton with a slight lead.
What happened after that in Wisconsin is indicative of what is happening nationally in the Democratic Party, and perhaps across the political landscape.
Obama was here first, opening his Wisconsin campaign in a jam-packed Kohl Center on the UW-Madison campus. Neither Hillary Clinton nor the former president was able to generate the kind of buzz or crowd that Obama did that night.
Hillary Clinton didn't arrive in Wisconsin until last Saturday. Once she was here, she campaigned hard for the state Democrats' vote, but it might have been too little, too late. An ominous sign for her prospects may have come when a crowd member asked her daughter, Chelsea, at a Madison rally why they hadn't seen her mother in Wisconsin yet.
Once the campaign spotlight focused on Wisconsin, something interesting started happening in the polls. Obama steadily gained, even after Clinton's campaign went on the attack about debates and accused the Illinois senator of plagiarizing portions of his stump speech. In the end, even women's votes - which in previous states had gone overwhelmingly to Clinton - were split between the two candidates.
Wisconsin wasn't a must-win state for Clinton, but it was awfully close to being one. Having lost eight consecutive contests coming into this campaign, she could have used a victory to stem Obama's tide going into pivotal March 4 primaries in Ohio and Texas. A few weeks ago, Wisconsin seemed like a solid opportunity for Clinton with its high percentages of white and lower-income voters - groups she previously fared well with. But that support eroded, too, as the cold Wisconsin days went on.
Now, polls are indicating Clinton's lead is beginning to evaporate in Texas and Ohio, too. Texas polls show an extremely close race. Clinton still has a significant lead in Ohio polls, but the electorate there is in many ways similar to Wisconsin's.
In Wisconsin, Obama's message of hope and change appealed to a broader range of voters than in many previous states. His speeches and campaign also became more substantial - particularly with an economic revival proposal he unveiled during an appearance at the Janesville GM plant. He also showed that negative attacks may not be working against him now, and perhaps not in the fall either.
The vote totals in Wisconsin also have to be of concern to the Republican Party. More than 1.1 million people cast Democratic Party ballots Tuesday, more than double the number that voted Republican. With Wisconsin being what some people call a "purple" state - a combination of Republican red and Democratic blue - that is a problem the Republican Party must address.
All of these trends were apparent in Wisconsin, which ended up being a significant player in the 2008 primary season.
