Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean proclaimed last week that superdelegates needed to make up their mind in June, and this race - the feisty one between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton - needed to be decided early in the summer.  June 4th, to be precise.

But the events of the last seventy-hours have really changed the landscape of this campaign.  Reverend Jeremiah Wright re-emerged, selfishly, and re-gained the spotlight.  Obama hit back, and then he REALLY hit back.  However, his poll numbers in the Tar Heel State sank, and the popular Democratic governor, Mike Easley, endorsed Clinton.

The numbers being what they are, it is still very difficult to conceive how Clinton runs ahead of Obama in either pledged delegates or popular vote.  The latter, assuming she can keep it within five points in North Carolina, and run up the score in West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico, is more probable, but still a statistical longshot.

But as we’ve known for months now, this race is about the 800 or so superdelegates and PLEO’s who, established by Party rules, are there to use their wisdom and guidance to assist the pledged delegates (regular voters just like you and me) in nominating a winner.

In his column this week, Arkansas News Bureau columnist David Sanders writes,

Obama hasn’t been able to put her away and now Hillary is mounting a comeback. Rev. Wright’s fascination with the spotlight will continue to isolate Obama, which will make her appear more desirable to the Democratic voters who have yet to vote. There is a real possibility that the superdelegates could become consumed with misgivings about nominating a candidate who increasingly appears to be unelectable. And as long as that reality exists, she isn’t going away.

Sanders is right on the money.   In fact, I’ve received more communication from people about Rev. Wright than I have about any other political topic since the day of the Pennsylvania primary.  Despite my own opinion that the Wright spectacle is just that, it seems to matter to voters.  It may hurt Obama at the polls; it may not.  We’ll see.  But his bigger challenge is keeping superdelegates and PLEO’s confident that he can win in November.

This morning, Politico reported that Obama has won the Congressional superdelegates, despite roughly eighty members who’ve yet to state their preference.  But remember, these folks can change their mind at any point prior to their vote on the floor of the convention.

According to NPR, Clinton ordered her staff to schedule more events in North Carolina and Indiana.   The events of the last seventy-two  hours have demonstrated Clinton’s committment and belief that she can win this race, statistical improbabilities aside.

One thing appears certain, Rev. Wright has knocked Obama off his stride, again.