It is interesting that Hillary Clinton did not acknowledge her defeats on February 12th and yet, on the next day, declared Barack Obama to be the front-runner. What is also interesting is that Senator Obama accepted that title.

You won't find this stated in clear terms in the news reports. In fact, I haven't heard it mentioned even by the talking heads on the major news networks. It is, however, very obvious that this is the case.

What makes this so obvious is an ad the Clinton campaign released today and the words of both Senators during the day. The ad challenges Senator Obama to a debate. Senator Clinton repeated that challenge each time she appeared on a news show. She couldn't have made it any clearer that she feels she is falling behind in the race for the Democratic nomination.

The person who feels they are trailing in a political race is always the one who calls for more debates. The front-runner always declines, if it is possible to do so without hurting their position. Senator Obama stated that they had already had 18 debates and didn't think they needed another.

This is a classic example of the situation as it now stands. Expect more calls from the Clinton campaign for debates and expect the Obama campaign to keep rejecting those calls.