It was an incredibly powerful day for Barack Obama. He had not only a rough week, he had a rough month, particularly with the primary in Pennsylvania, the elitism characterization and the Rev Wright controversy. And he came out on top to such an extent that some people are starting to call him the Teflon Candidate.

He campaigned vigorously in North Carolina and Indiana using a combination of big rallies in big venues, but also smaller events in smaller venues looking more people eyeball-to-eyeball, telling his story much more effectively in terms of who he is. He had to address head-on this whole notion about him being an elitist, which is obviously absurd, and he did a great job deflecting it.

Where he was most courageous and probably what was most important to his success in Indiana and North Carolina was his being outspoken against the gas holiday. Hillary Rodham Clinton could not find one economist who came out and said it was a good idea. Even New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine who is a Hillary Clinton supporter said the gas tax wasn’t his “favorite idea.”

Though the day got off to a slow start, it was Obama’s ability to deflect the criticism of Wright and elitism, as well as his standing strong and calling the gas tax a gimmick that helped him secure a 14 point advantage in North Carolina by the end of the day.

The most shocking news coming out of yesterday’s primary races, however, was in Indiana. Initially, I thought Obama would go down by a larger margin because of the composition. However, in every category, he improved his performance: among white women, blue collar votes, young people and those under fifty in general.

All of the popular vote that Barack Obama lost in Pennsylvania, he regrouped in North Carolina and Indiana last night. For Senator Clinton to win in Indiana only by two points, suggests that had it not been for Jeremiah Wright, Obama may have won in Indiana by 5 to 7 points.

At this point, it is mathematically impossible for Hillary Clinton to catch up in the delegate race and arguably impossible for her to catch up in the popular vote.

The question now is, how soon the Clintons will throw in the towel. I predict that the trickle of superdelegate voters coming to Barack Obama will pick up. It won’t be a flood, but it will be a steady steam.

Of course there may still be some bumps ahead, but Barack Obama is on his way to being the Democratic Party’s nominee.