Hurry up and wait

That’s the story of the presidential campaign: two frenetic months from Iowa in January to Texas, Ohio, and others in March. Now a long pause until the Pennsylvania primary April 22. What is campaign ’08 revealing about American culture? | Marvin Olasky

Krieg Barrie/WORLD

In the eye of the electoral hurricane, Democrats are dividing into math vs. momentum determinists: "Barack Obama has a majority of elected delegates." "Hillary Clinton has momentum and will win the super delegates." "Wyoming and Mississippi results gave the momentum back to Obama." "Did not." "Did so."

Putative GOP nominee John McCain also has to wait, but he can seize the spring to improve relations with conservative evangelicals and movement pros before swinging to the center in a general campaign. Like the two Democratic front-runners, he so far has run a personality-driven campaign, with no concept such as 2000's "compassionate conservatism" coming to the fore.