What now for remaining candidates?

Karl Rove:

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Remember: It has only been eight weeks since Iowans voted in the first contest of the season, though it seems like a geological age has passed. There are now seven weeks until Pennsylvania, nine weeks until North Carolina and Indiana, and 10 weeks until West Virginia. Imagine how many twists and turns are possible.

Neither Mr. Obama nor Mrs. Clinton can win with delegates elected in primaries and caucuses. In a real irony, the Democratic Party will settle its nominee battle with the aristocratic device of superdelegates -- party apparatchiks, interest group leaders and elected officials, many of whom gained their post years ago. What happens if a bloc of superdelegates remains uncommitted until the convention? And what will happen to Florida and Michigan, which presently have no delegates? The last convention with only 48 states represented was 1956.

The big development to watch is not the rise of the "Obamicans" -- Republicans who are backing the charismatic Illinois senator. The interesting electoral phenomenon is the emergence of the "McCainicrats" -- Democrats backing Mr. McCain. It's not just Sen. Joe Lieberman. In three recent polls, (Fox, LA Times/Bloomberg and Gallup), almost twice as many Democrats support Mr. McCain as Republicans support Mr. Obama. Three times as many Democrats support Mr. McCain as Republicans back Mrs. Clinton.

A long Democratic battle doesn't automatically help the Republicans. In fact, it hurts the Republicans in certain ways. Mr. McCain becomes less interesting to the media. Stories about him move off page one and grow smaller. TV coverage becomes spotty and short. There are not yet big and deep and unbridgeable differences between the two Democrats and there is plenty of time to heal most wounds (except, perhaps among the young if Mrs. Clinton were to win). Continuing to build a profile and lay the predicate for the short fall campaign against either Democrat becomes the challenge for Mr. McCain while the Democrats battle it out.

So what must Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton do, especially in the seven weeks before Pennsylvania?

Both need to focus on Mr. Obama's biggest weaknesses. One is the Illinois senator's claim to be the new "post-partisan" leader to bring Republicans and Democrats together. Mr. McCain and Mrs. Clinton have earned reputations for doing that, though Mrs. Clinton rarely mentions it. Mr. Obama has no real record of voting and working across party lines on high profile issues like judges, immigration, intelligence reform, troop funding and energy.

Both can ask why Mr. Obama has failed to engage on these issues since his election to the Senate, while they have well-earned scars from tackling many of them.

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Rove has one of the most astute minds in politics today. He has a sense of the weakness of each candidate and how to attack it.

The best way for McCain to stay in the news is to attack the policy positions of the two Democrats. It is still possible that he may have to face both anyway if they do a combined ticket. One of the things Republicans seem to ignore is the way the media works when it comes to attacking opponents. Attacks are just the start of a news cycle. The story stays in the news when the opponent is forced to respond. McCain's team needs to pick two are three areas of attack each week to challenge the Democrats on while they are distracted by their own primary race.

With the contest boiling down to the Super Delegates, look for some big time log rolling and deal making. Most of these guys became Super Delegates because of their political acumen and not because of any altruistic since of what is best for the country. They will be looking for how they are their constituents can benefit from their selection. Republicans would be wise to closely watch this process for areas of attack and potential corruption.