Remember the Alamo
Rob Price

They're still counting the votes in the land of the Alamo as I write this: Texas, where Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama with 52 percent of the primary election votes to his 48 percent. But Texas is a weird place with weird rules, and one of those weird rules is that Democratic voters can attend caucuses after casting their votes and, basically, vote again.

That makes for some interesting math, even if you're the sort of person who doesn't find math interesting.

According to CNN's estimates, Clinton picked up 65 pledged delegates in Texas, compared with 61 for Obama, nicking his over all delegate lead by just four votes. Her Ohio win allowed her to cut further into Obama's lead by 12 delegates, making her Texas and Ohio victories good for 16.

As I write this, however, there are still 67 Texas delegates to be awarded after the caucus results are tabulated, and, according to CNN, Obama was leading Clinton in those caucus votes, 56 percent to 44 percent. That means Obama could recover a significant portion of his delegate loss to Clinton, losing, say, only 10 to 14 overall delegate points.

Don't underestimate the significance of Sen. Clinton's victories in Ohio and Texas. As I understand it, losing Texas or Ohio or both would have been disastrous to her campaign. Now, her twin wins give her a special authority: She keeps winning in the big states, whose electoral votes are critical in determining the final winner.

And yet, here is the troublesome math: not counting the delegates to be parceled out from the Texas caucuses, Sen. Obama still leads Sen. Clinton with 1,520 pledged delegates to her 1,424. Ninety-six votes doesn't seem like a lot, but the number grows relatively larger as the pool of delegates still to be awarded shrinks. There are 4,049 overall delegates to be awarded in the Democratic primaries. That means Sen. Clinton has to make up a nearly hundred-delegate deficit out of the remaining thousand or so delegates still out there.

That could be tough, increasing the likelihood this is going to come down to an internecine fight for the super delegates and the delegates from Florida and Michigan, whom the Democratic National Committee so far has refused to seat because it did not approve the date of those primaries.

If it comes to that, things could get ugly in the Democratic party, as meanwhile Sen. John McCain oversees hugs and kisses within a Republican Party that six months ago was considered riven beyond repair. If Democrats continue slugging it out through the summer, as Democrats occasionally like to do, the Republican Party could re-energize itself and, in spite of its support of an unpopular war, win the big enchilada in November.

But perhaps it won't come to that. What's the alternative? Hillary herself offered a wink and a nod at one possibility when she was asked the day after last week's primaries whether a joint Clinton-Obama ticket would be possible. She answered: "That may, you know, be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who's on the top of the ticket."

You have to hand it to Hillary Clinton. Down by 96 delegates and heading into the last phase of the primaries, she has the nerve to suggest Obama - the leader in pledged delegates - consider stepping aside and running as her vice president.

Just so we're clear about this: Pretend I'm Hillary Clinton, and you're Barack Obama, and we're playing poker, and you're holding three of a kind, and I'm holding a pair. And I say to you, We can avoid a nasty evening if you just fold and let me win now.

That's what I call the audacity of hope. The Clinton campaign last week was criticized for running a fear-mongering commercial that posed a doomsday scenario: Who's best qualified to answer that 3 a.m. phone call to the White House from a deranged Vladimir Putin, Hillary or Barack?

Actually, the Clinton campaign doesn't need a scary commercial to pose that question. Hilllary's not-so oblique suggestion that Barack stand down should win a blue ribbon for sheer bravado under pressure.

Has Barack Obama ever tussled with a character like Hillary Clinton before in his life? While campaigning in Texas, he would have been wise to pay a visit to the Alamo itself, where a couple hundred Texans held off thousands of Mexicans with guts and nerve and a little bit of gunpowder. Had Hillary been there, alongside Davey Crockett and Jim Bowie, she would have taken decisive action and offered generous terms to Santa Anna, as long as he lay down his arms.

Who's ready to stare down Vladimir Putin? You know who.