There are some pretty big changes happening out there with the voters. Barack Obama recently declared himself the frontrunner in the race, although there are 10 contests remaining and MI and FL have not yet been decided. But a look at the polls shows that Sen. Obama’s lead nationally with Democrats has been evaporating. The Gallup daily tracking poll shows Hillary leading Sen. Obama among Democrats by 7 points, and the latest Zogby/Reuters poll has Sen. Obama’s lead down from 14 points last month to just 3 points now. This suggests a strong swing in momentum in the race to Hillary since the Texas and Ohio primaries earlier this month.

The more that the voters learn about Barack Obama, the more his ability to beat John McCain is declining compared to Hillary. For a long time we have explained that poll numbers for a candidate who has not yet been vetted or tested are not firm numbers, and we are beginning to see that clearly. Just a month ago, the Obama campaign claimed that the polls showed Barack Obama doing better than Hillary against Sen. McCain. Now such numbers are a lot harder to find.

In the latest USA Today/Gallup poll, Hillary leads John McCain by 5 points (Hillary 51 / McCain 46) while Sen. Obama is only 2 points ahead of Sen. McCain (Obama 49 / McCain 47). This is a reversal from February, when Sen. McCain led Hillary by 4 points. The latest CNN poll also shows that Hillary leads Sen. McCain by a bigger margin than Barack Obama.

In several key states, Hillary is a stronger general election candidate than Barack Obama against John McCain. For example, the latest Survey USA poll has Hillary leading Sen. McCain by 6 points in Ohio while Sen. Obama trails Sen. McCain by 7 points. In Kentucky, Hillary’s margin against Sen. McCain is 26 points better than Barack Obama’s. In Missouri, Sen. Obama lags John McCain by 14 points while Hillary comes within 2 points of Sen. McCain. In Florida, the latest PPP poll shows Barack Obama losing to John McCain by 11 points while Hillary comes within 4 points of Sen. McCain. Last week's University of Central Arkansas poll showed Hillary leading Sen. Sen. McCain by 15 points in that state while Sen. Obama trails Sen. McCain by 16 points. And the latest Rasmussen poll showed Hillary leading Sen. McCain by 11 points in New Jersey while Sen. Obama trails Sen. McCain by 2 points.

Moreover, 24 percent of Florida Democrats say that if Florida's delegates are not counted at the Democratic convention in August, they are less likely to vote for a Democrat in November, according to the latest St. Petersburg Times/Bay News 9/Miami Herald poll. Since Florida is the single largest and most important swing state in the country and nearly 1.8 million Florida Democrats voted in the January primary, Democrats must find a solution to allow Florida's delegates to count if we are to have any hope of winning in November.

And in the crucial state of Pennsylvania – the next Democratic primary battleground and the biggest state which has not yet voted – the latest Quinnipiac poll shows Hillary doubling her Democratic primary lead over Barack Obama from 6 points to 12 points. In Pennsylvania, Hillary improved among men, maintained her 24 point advantage among women, and improved among younger, older, more educated and less educated voters. She leads in every region across the state (NE, SE, NW, SW, Central, Alleghany) with the exception of Philadelphia.

Ultimately, this Democratic nominating process is meant to select the candidate who will: a) be the best president – the best commander-in-chief, steward of the economy, and exercise leadership; b) defeat John McCain; and c) promote and defend core Democratic principles such as universal health care. On all three fronts, Hillary is the best choice for the Democratic Party.

Hillary is the runaway leader on most qualified to be commander-in-chief. In the Ohio exit poll, 60 percent of Democratic primary voters said Hillary was most qualified to be commander-in-chief, compared with 37 percent for Barack Obama. In Texas, she led by 16 points, and in most other states, she led by 10 points or more. She also won among those who said the economy was the most important issue – by 12 points in Ohio, for example. And in the latest CNN poll, more voters say Hillary would do a good job on the economy than Barack Obama or John McCain. Finally, in the latest USA Today/Gallup poll, Hillary leads Barack Obama on strong and decisive leadership, managing the government effectively and having a clear plan for solving the country’s problems

aren't aware of these facts and trends, which is why they have been frantic to declare Obama the winner all day long and the contest for nominee finished.

They have struggled to paint Obama's faux SOTU speech as an across the board winner and yet polls are indicating that non African-American voters have now seen through his golden oratory and are abandoning support of him in droves. Among the people already having voted for Obama, a great many of them are now feeling voter's remorse and would vote for Hillary if they were allowed.

Currently the only thing keeping Obama's head above water is the pathological determination of the mass media to ram him down our throats as the nominee.

All of this is why Obamacrats have been going into hysterical convulsions today trying to convince everyone that the contest is over and that Obama has already won.

This is how you view things when your chief strategist is not an expert in policy or politics, but rather an expert in polling. We don't govern or elect using polls. They're ephemeral and notoriously inaccurate. Many polls predicted a Kerry victory in '04.

Furthermore, your cherry picking of polls is dishonest.
Rasmussen (today): Obama ahead by 2 %
CBS News: Obama by 3%
CNN: Obama by 7%
USA Today/Gallup: Obama up 7
Reuters/Zogby: Obama up 3

Regarding your last paragraph -- why should anyone care about Ohio/Texas exit polls when we have the votes to speak for themselves? In TX, Hillary won by 2% in primary and lost by maybe 5% in caucus.

In the only poll that matters, the one where people vote, Obama is winning.

The theme du jour of Hillary's campaign is "Why The Press Shouldn't Be Asking Me When I'll Quite", instead of "Why People Should Vote For Me". Please, Take your banal sloganeering elsewhere.

Obama's numbers took a dip when the Jeremiah Wright story hit the news. The newest polling data reveals that the trend has reversed itself already. Hillary has still not regained the 20 point lead that she once held in Pennsylvania.

Florida and Michigan will not be re-voted. Hillary needs to win each of the remaining 10 contests by at least 65% in order to win the nomination.

That is within the realm of possibility, but if you're feeling that lucky then I would suggest that you rush out and buy some lottery tickets.