Rove: Get Ready for November, Obama

Barack Obama is now the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination, writes Karl Rove, analyzing the presidential race for the Wall Street Journal. Clinton may still battle on, but there’s nothing Obama can or should do to stop her. Instead, he should focus on the general election where, by Rove’s count, he trails McCain in electoral votes 241-217.

Obama will almost certainly pull ahead of McCain once the nomination is settled, and McCain knows it, Rove says. But McCain will have plenty of time to catch back up, and he’s the strongest candidate the Republicans could have nominated. The protracted battle, meanwhile, has been good for Democrats (3.5 million new voters registered) and bad for Democrats (Jeremiah Wright).