Steven Stark writes in his Super Tuesday Tote Board preview in The Phoenix that John McCain appears like he may salt away the Republican nomination Tuesday, as he appears to be doing very well in the South - where there are five primaries - and could win a majority of them.

If that happens, all he really has to do is win one of the “big three” - California, Missouri, and Illinois - to be virtually unassailable.

The Democratic side, conversely, is far from clear.

Once faced with seemingly insurmountable 30-point deficits in both national polls and major states’ contests, Barack Obama is surging, cutting Hillary Clinton’s leads to single digits or even within the margin of error.

As recently as Thursday, polls showed Hillary Clinton leading in 11 primary states (four of those leaning) and Obama four (with one leaning).

Since then, Delaware, Missouri, and New Jersey have moved into the leaning category - meaning Clinton is being challenged strongly in 10 primary states of the 15 up for grabs Super Tuesday.

These two rivals may well continue competing after Super Tuesday.

Also big - Obama is polling better in the major caucus states of Colorado and Minnesota. The other caucuses are less likely to be reported on as heavily by the media, and have relatively few delegates at stake.

Bottom line: If Barack Obama can win six primaries of the 15 held on Tuesday, he is in decent shape to challenge Clinton going forward - of course, it would help a lot if California were among them.

The current Super Tuesday projections:

• Hillary Clinton (primaries): Arizona (close), Arkansas, California (close), Delaware (close), Massachusetts (close), Missouri (close), New Jersey (close), New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
• Barack Obama (primaries): Alabama (close), Connecticut (close), Georgia, Illinois
• Caucus States: Colorado (close), Minnesota (close), Kansas, New Mexico, Idaho, North Dakota, Alaska