The Maturation Of A Candidate

This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. It was quite a weekend for Barak Obama. He sweeps primaries and caucuses in Maine, Nebraska, Washington, the Virgin Islands, and Louisiana. The pundits will say, "Well he always does well in caucus states" or, "There's a big African American vote there."

Hillary Clinton supporters say, "Just wait till Ohio and Texas; that's where she'll mount her comeback." We'll see, but it won't be easy.

It wasn't too long ago I was watching Senator Obama speak to crowds of several hundred in Iowa. He was plenty comfortable in those high school gyms. And he seems not to have missed a step as those crowds have swelled to ten and twenty thousand.

He also looked assured and focused in his 60 Minutes interview with Steve Croft last night. It's Obama who has lightening in a bottle right now. When Croft asked the candidate about his lack of experience Obama likened himself to Google.

"There are a lot of companies that have been around longer than Google," he said. "But Google is performing."