What happened to Senator Hillary Clinton after her victory in Pennsylvania? Clinton's image of raw toughness and resilience was about as close to sexual energy as Clinton gets. Husband Bill was wowing the rural crowds in Indiana and North Carolina by just showing up and shaking hands.

And her empathy for working-class Americans resonated, while Senator Barack Obama's seemed to drift as questions about his relationship to Rev. Wright lingered.

Yes, it's the economy. Exit polls are confirming the economy is once again what's top of mind for voters.

But this time it was the gas tax, stupid.

Clinton and Obama sparred for 72 hours over the merits and perils of suspending the gas tax for the summer.

It filled the newsroom gap after everything had been squeezed out of the Wright story.

But Clinton unwittingly aligned herself with Republican candidate Senator John McCain, who also favors the idea. And worse, voters saw suspending the tax as a shell game, and not real help.

Obama called Clinton out on it as a "politics as usual" scheme that did nothing to help Americans. It was a gamble that paid off.

You half-expected him to borrow a line from the French queen of mean, Marie Antoinette, "Let them eat cake."

The truth is, neither Clinton's nor Obama's plan was actionable. It's unlikely that Clinton would have gotten big oil companies and retailers to lower gas prices. And Obama's approach, a tax credit for middle and lower income families, will take years to pass, if he can get it through at all. By then, $3.70 for a gallon of gas could seem cheap.

But for now, Obama's "truth to power" approach gave him a decisive win.

More than that, it revived his campaign to sure footing: sincerity, honesty, and change.