And, at some point tonight, Obama beats Clinton:
Is Obama’s seeming triumph over Clinton “one of the biggest upsets” in modern political campaigns or is it the biggest?
The facts are thus: Clinton came into the nomination fight heavily favored to be the nominee. Not only did she have the backing of the most potential political machine in the country — due in large part to her husband’s eight years in the White House — but she had also built a vaunted fundraising operation of her own and surrounded herself with some of the best and brightest aides in Democratic politics.
Obama, on the other hand, had served for two years in the U.S. Senate after doing a stint in the Illinois state Senate. He has toured the country for Democratic candidates during the 2006 election cycle and had begun to build a national organization through his Hopefund political action committee. (In fact, Obama often referred to himself as a “skinny kid with a funny name.”
So, as Chris Cillizza goes on to ask, is Obama’s victory over Clinton the biggest political upset ever ?
For me, given the odds, the Clinton name, and the improbability of a black guy from Chicago coming only one step away from being the first person of African descent to lead a non-African nation, I think the answer is, probably yes.
Say what you will about Obama’s policies, but this is history in the making tonight no matter how November turns out.
