There was a point when the pundits were telling us that there was little to no difference between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And for a time -- when the debates devolved into the candidates parsing the differences in their approach to universal health care -- it did indeed seem as though the main difference between the two came down to race and gender.

But it was only as the campaign moved on past Pennsylvania, leading up to yesterday's primaries in Indiana and N. Carolina, that we began to see separation between the two. The infamous 3 am Clinton campaign alarm clock ad asked who would you want to answer the phone when the pressure was on. The rhetorical question was meant to elicit Hillary as the answer. Unfortunately for her, when it came to real life, she wasn't up to the task, cracking under pressure and making it clear to all that these candidates are very different.

The critical moment arrived for Hillary Clinton with the Indiana and N. Carolina primaries. This was a must win situation for her if she was going to maintain momentum and be able to make the case to the super delegates that only she could defeat McCain. With the heat on, she chose to pander, to tell the public what she thought they wanted to hear whether it made good policy or not. The most glaring example of this is the repeal of the gas tax, a bad idea that would ultimately do more damage to our economy and bring minimal savings to American drivers. To show off her machismo she threatened to nuke Iran, again grandstanding and playing tough just like George Bush and John McCain.

Obama, on the other hand, had has come out of two of his most difficult weeks looking very much like a statesman, taking the high road and calling Hillary out for endorsing the foolish gas holiday and blustering on abut Iran.

Tested under fire, Obama has emerged stronger while Hillary's desperate attempt to connect with the electorate's basest instincts is proving fatal to her presidential prospects. The question remaining is how much lower will she sink in her standings before giving in to the inevitable. Her resilience and refusal to concede has cast her as a fighter, a positive image that she can still lay claim to in the waning days of the campaign. Should she continue to fight, doing the dirty anti-Obama work for the Republicans, then she will lose what little credibility she has left and be remembered as the candidate whose sense of entitlement put her ambition ahead of the good of the country.