Barack Obama and John McCain both scored hat tricks tonight, taking Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
In Obama’s victory speech in Madison, WI, he pointed out that tonight highlights the fact that he can win in any setting. “We have now won east and west, north and south, and across the heartland of this country,” he told an excited crowd. The Clinton campaign has dismissed Obama’s victories from Super Tuesday and this past weekend by saying Obama wins in caucus states (which, due to their format, favor activists and the well-to-do) and in states Democrats never win in general elections. Well, Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. were all primaries, not caucuses. Maryland and D.C. are the Democrats’ territory in November, and Virginia is a swing state. As Obama was saying, “We need a new direction in this country,” the Clintonites were probably thinking, “We need new spin in this campaign.”