She's Not Dead Yet

At 10:55, at virtually the same moment, CNN, Fox and MSNBC called Ohio for Hillary. She had won a big state. A "psychological" boost, Russert said. One down, one to go for Clinton.

Hillary dedicated her win to everyone who ever "refused to be knocked out." It was Comeback Kid stuff, and for the first time in many primary nights, her smile looked real, not faked. She invoked the red phone again and talked about debating McCain, ignoring the fact that she still trails in this race. She played the woman card, too, citing a mother who wants her young daughters to know anything is possible.

For once, Obama couldn't blow her off the screen, because this time she had won. He had all the momentum in the world going in, but yesterday, at least, couldn't close the deal.

Little wonder, then, that Obama said he has nearly the same delegate lead that he had in the morning. You go with the math most favorable to your side.

It wasn't until nearly 1 a.m. that networks projected Hillary would carry Texas as well. Much of the country may have gone to bed, but they would awaken to a changed race, or at least an altered media narrative.

Now hear this: The Pennsylvania primary is only seven weeks away! And I've always wanted to cover a primary in Puerto Rico.

The NYT focuses on geography: "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's victories in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday night not only shook off the vapors of impending defeat, but also showed that -- in spite of his delegate lead -- Senator Barack Obama was still losing to her in the big states.

"Those two states were the battlegrounds where Mr. Obama was going to bury the last opponent to his history-making nomination, finally delivering on his message of hope while dashing the hopes of a Clinton presidential dynasty.

"Yet then the excited, divided American electorate weighed in once more, throwing Mrs. Clinton the sort of political lifeline that New Hampshire did in early January after her third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses."

For the LAT, the big story is the newly aggressive Clinton:

"In winning New Hampshire a few weeks ago, Hillary Rodham Clinton declared, 'I found my own voice.' But it was a much different voice in the closing days before Tuesday's voting that carried her to victory in Ohio and Texas -- and which now lets her make a strong case for extending the Democratic presidential race into the spring and possibly beyond.

"Gone was the misty-eyed Clinton who scored points showing her human side. Gone was the gracious Clinton who, just two weeks ago, drew thunderous applause for expressing her pride in running against Barack Obama.