This week the presidential campaigns got a week off from facing voters, but that doesn't actually mean they had the week off. On any campaign there are two commodities, time and money; and at this stage in the game neither is more valuable than the other.
On the money front, both campaigns on the Democratic side are seemingly healthy. Senator Obama is touting that he has over one million contributors and Senator Clinton is raising a million dollars a day online. With that sort of support, both campaigns will have no problem getting through next Tuesday's contests in Texas, Ohio, and don't forget Vermont and Little Rhody. (Of course, depending on their spending, you never know what the bank account will look like after Tuesday, but I digress.)
What is clear is that with 444 delegates up for grabs, the most important commodity in the next week will be time. Politically, culturally and most importantly geographically, Texas and Ohio aren't close to each other. So the campaigns will have to shift gears and make important decisions about scheduling. The use of surrogates and volunteers becomes increasingly important, and when it comes to surrogates, Senator Clinton seems to have the greatest surrogate of all, Former President William Jefferson Clinton Madeleine Albright. Senator Obama has been making a pitch for volunteers to come to Ohio to help narrow the gap for him there.
Since the last primaries in Wisconsin and Hawaii, Senator Clinton has held events in Texas and Ohio six times each; Senator Obama has had eight events in Texas and six in Ohio. Along the way Senator Clinton made money stops in Boston, New York, Washington, DC and New Orleans.
Going further, a deeper look at the campaign schedules shows the importance each candidate is putting on each state:
Senator Obama began his day in Ohio with a rally in Columbus at 8:30am before he jetted off to Texas for an event in San Marcos this afternoon. Senator Clinton is spending the day in Ohio while her husband is headlining events in Texas. Tomorrow, Senator Clinton will begin her day in Ohio with a town hall meeting in the southern Ohio town of Hanging Rock before winging her way to Houston for the weekend. Senator Obama will stay in Texas tomorrow, but his schedule through the weekend is still undisclosed. According to recent campaign emails, Senator Obama is planning on heavy volunteer turnout this weekend in Ohio, soliciting volunteers to make a charge on Ohio like the birthplace of avaiation's native son Jack Nicklaus did at the 1986 Masters.
According to my poll in Ohio (with a sample size of 9), Barack Obama will win Ohio with 75% of the vote. Voters with the last name of Gray from Warren, OH are breaking entirely for Senator Obama which should push him over the edge in the Buckeye state.
If both candidates are still standing after Tuesday's primaries, their focus will shift to the Wyoming Democratic Caucus meetings on the 8th and the Mississippi primary on the 11th. Then comes my beloved Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which will be the next contest held on April 22nd.
According to recent polls, Barack Obama is looking more like the Rolling Stones and Hillary Clinton is trending more Hootie and the Blowfish. Not following? Well with a growing lead in the polls and delegate counts, time is definitely on Senator Obama's side ("Time Is On My Side", The Rolling Stones, 1965) and Hillary Clinton is asking "Time, why you punish me?" ("Time", Hootie and the Blowfish, 1993).
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