So-Called Super Tuesday Results Inconclusive, Ohio to be Vital in Nomination Race

Here's a bit of political history for our readers. In 1976 Jimmy Carter was fighting it out with Jerry Brown for the Democratic nomination. On the first Tuesday in June, Carter won the Ohio primary. Mayor Richard Daley, the father of the present Mayor, and leader of the Illinois delegation to the convention, declared Carter as the nominee following his Ohio victory.

Since then there have been seven presidential elections and Ohio has never again played such a critical role, until now. With a very mixed result in the states selecting delegates on February 5, Ohio and Texas, both of which hold primaries on March 4, 2008, become very important.

This is because most of the big states in the United States will have selected delegates by March 4. The list includes Illinois, New York, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Michigan and Florida have also chosen delegates, but, according to the DNC, will not be seated. There are also Virginia and Pennsylvania, with Virginia's primary on February 12, and Pennsylvania on April 22.

It's hard to imagine, though, that any other combination will have the news media talking as much as Ohio and Texas. Ohio because no Republican has won the presidency without winning Ohio and Texas because of its large Hispanic vote. Indeed the two together will have 301 delegates being selected by the primary process. So the winner of those two primaries will have a lot to talk about with the uncommitted "super-delegates" who may end up holding the key to the Democratic nomination.