Passing Comments

One of the most witty, interesting, and accurate of the political blogs tracking the U.S. Presidential race this year is The Field by political organizer and reporter Al Giordano.

Yesterday,  as Senator Barack Obama was crossing the finish line to become the Democratic Party’s nominee, Giordano particularly enjoyed celebrating the triumph. He posted a variety of entertaining commentary and music videos.

One of the posts, “Live Blogging the Clinch,” features a video of Maria Callas singing versions of Carmen´s Habanera:

Here in Italy, we’re getting up just as most in the U.S. who are doing the initial news analysis of yesterday’s Democratic primaries are heading off to bed. So at present a lull of several hours, then a Vesuvio of day-after scrutiny will erupt from all quarters.

For now, checking around online for some of the most comprehensive summing up of what these latest voting results mean exactly, I found an analysis by Josh Marshall at TalkingPointsMemo.com that lays out succinctly what the current situation is for Obama, and what his biggest challenge will be in the upcoming weeks. Headlined “Final Thoughts,” here’s a quote:

So I think the big question is, can he fight back? Can he take this back to Hillary Clinton, demonstrate his ability to take punches and punch back?

And here is Obama’s concession speech: