Guardian (UK) opines:

After Barack Obama's sweep of five primary contests over the weekend, he is poised to bag another hefty prize: Virginia.

The state's demographics overwhelmingly suggest a win for the Illinois senator, and he has the nod of governor Tim Kaine and former governor and current Richmond mayor Doug Wilder. Fully 101 delegates are at stake in the state.

The Clinton camp hasn't exactly resigned itself to a loss, but its rhetoric isn't confident. "Virginia is one of those states in February that Senator Obama has some real advantages in," Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said Friday. "As a campaign we have long factored that reality into our planning."

The Obama camp derides the Clinton campaign's meek talk as spin. "Hillary Clinton has all the advantages," one Obama adviser said. "She has been a dominant personality in the media markets in all three states. If she's the most famous woman in the world, she's certainly the most famous woman in these three venues."

If the neat demographic slices of the Democratic party vote in Virginia as they have in previous states, Obama should win. He's well ahead in polling, with a recent poll showing him beating Clinton 53% to 37%.

"Obama's the favourite," University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato said succinctly.

With Obama's weekend victories in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, Maine and the Virgin Islands, the Illinois senator is a hair behind Clinton in the race for the delegates who will ultimately decide the nomination at the Democratic convention in August. He has 1,070 to the New York senator's 1,095, with 2,025 needed for the nomination, according to a tally by the Associated Press.

That makes this Tuesday's votes in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC, crucial. The total number of delegates at stake Tuesday is 237 — Virginia's total, 99 from Maryland and 37 from the District of Columbia.