Playing by the numbers

Numbers, like words, mean something. Don't be fooled by the headlines of who won and what strategies the candidates are employing in the wake of the March 4 election. All that matters are the numbers. There's lots of bloviating going on, most of it to fill newsprint and air time. Some about a dream-team ticket made up of some combination of Obama and Clinton. Some about how it's do or die, again, for candidates -- in Pennsylvania. Some about Madam Clinton who is claiming to have turned a corner, just as she earlier claimed to have found her voice after New Hampshire. Her wins may have had more to do with somewhat calculated appearances on SNL and The Daily Show just before these latest primaries.

But it still comes down to cold, hard numbers. This race continues to be a drawn out affair and may even come down to Indiana whose primary is Tuesday, May 6. That doomsday scenario must terrify the leadership of both of Indiana's parties. Even then, it'll all come back to Michigan and Florida. Go figure. At this point, no matter what the candidates and the headlines say, remember that it's all about the only thing that matters in the end: numbers.