The End of the Beginning.

Of course Hillary will try to spin it, but the truth is pretty obvious. Last Tuesday, Mrs. Clinton lost. Badly. And this time, there may not be a chance to make a comeback.

Hillary has had a few recent victories, but none of them were able to effectively cure her chronic case of delegate deficiency. She needed a miracle -- more specifically, a miracle in Indiana and North Carolina. With Obama entangled in a messy PR crisis over his bombastic pastor's troubling remarks, the timing seemed just right.

It wasn't. Although Hillary technically won Indiana, the home of one of her closest political allies, her astoundingly slim margin of victory turned it into an effective defeat. In North Carolina, Obama's massive 15-point victory crushed any hopes Hillary may have harbored of closing the pledged delegate gap. Now, only one question remains: is the Clinton campaign finished?

If this supremely unpredictable election has taught us anything, it's the fact that in American politics, nothing can be accurately predicted. Hillary Clinton is a remarkably resilient politician, and a vicious fighter when cornered. But this time, the sheer mathematics of the situation look pretty hopeless.

For over a month, the pundits have pointed out that, barring divine intervention, Hillary will reach the convention with fewer pledged delegates than Barack Obama. The Clinton campaign shifted its strategy accordingly, hoping only to narrow the gap significantly enough to entice the majority of the unpledged superdelegates to cross over to their side.

In the aftermath of Tuesday's primaries, that strategy appears to be dead. Not only has Barack Obama been able to expand his lead in both the number of pledged delegates and the popular vote, but once-timid superdelegates are boldly pledging their allegiance to Mr. Hope. For the first time ever, Barack Obama can claim the lead in every single column of the primary ledger.

Is it possible for Hillary to win? Yes. The superdelegates are free to cast their vote for any candidate they choose. In a freak twist of fate, they could all have a sudden epiphany and decide to vote for Hillary -- making her the nominee. But within the realm of reason, Hillary's chances aren't so good. If the party elites decide to arbitrarily snub the candidate that the majority of Democratic voters have chosen, it's a pretty safe bet that more than a few disillusioned Democrats will stay home on election day. After humiliating presidential defeats in 2000 and 2004, it seems doubtful that the Democratic leadership would plot a course straight towards a massive party schism.

According to multiple sources, the Obama campaign will declare victory on May 20th, following the Oregon and Kentucky primaries. For all practical intents an purposes, he might as well do it tomorrow. The news media is already slowly fading out its coverage of Hillary Clinton, silently acknowledging the end of a hotly contested race. A few outlets, such as Time magazine, have taken a less subtle approach.

And why shouldn't they?

We can't be completely certain about anything until after the convention. But we can be reasonably certain that Barack Obama will walk away from Denver as the Democratic party's nominee. In other words, phase one of the presidential race is over.

Phase two is just beginning.