Waiting for the Game to Change

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Democrats Split Indiana and North Carolina

Sen. Barack Obama won North Carolina's presidential primary by a wide margin Tuesday, while Sen. Hillary Clinton narrowly won in Indiana.

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The media joined in. "So, will Obama close the deal on Tuesday?" CNN's Anderson Cooper wanted to know.

"Can Obama close the deal and win both of these things and knock her out?" demanded MSNBC's Chris Matthews.

NBC's Meredith Vieira took the question to Obama. People "are beginning to question, 'Jeez, why doesn't he close the deal?' " she informed him.

As Obama struggled to close the deal, Clinton served up another cliche. "This primary election on Tuesday is a game-changer," she said last week.

The media grabbed the ball and ran with it. NBC's Norah O'Donnell agreed that "tomorrow's outcome could be huge for Hillary Clinton, a game-changer."

But CNN won the game-changing world series.

"Tomorrow is not a game-changer," Anderson Cooper determined.

"It can be a game-changer," argued his guest, Time's Joe Klein. Gloria Borger concurred that "if she does win both, to use her phrase, it is a game-changer."

Cooper was puzzled. "If Obama wins both," he asked, "is that a game-changer, too?"

Cooper was puzzled. "So, Joe, tomorrow, are we likely to actually see any game-changers?"

"God, who knows?" Klein replied.

It fell to the "Today" show's Vieira, again, to ask the candidate. "Will it still be a game-changer to you?" she asked.