Chess

The primary season has barely begun, but the events that will determine the ultimate winner have already transpired. It's just that we don't know what they are yet.

Essentially, we are at the mid-point of a chess match, with Hillary and Barack squaring off across the board. Each player has already laid the groundwork for their strategy and marked out what they want as their main territory.

I think Hillary has been caught by surprise that she has recapture her support in the black community. Her credentials had been good, and she earned key endorsements from black leaders early on. The surprise has been that with Obama's candidacy being so viable the black community realized that instead of backing a white candidate who supports black issues they could have a black candidate offering everything they want who actually has a shot at the presidency.

Hillary may be forced to cede her support from the black community because competing for that support is easily misinterpeted, as she found out with her comments about Lyndon Johnson and Bill found out with his "fairy tale" comment. Fighting for that support could cause more damage and hard feelings so that even if she wins the nomination, it could weaken her own bid for the presidency.

From this point, either side will find it difficult to make inroads on new territory. We just need to see the lay of the land, to see who is in the better position.