What better a place for a photo op than the Cheese State? Senator Barack Obama got just that tonight with a victory in the Wisconsin primary, advancing his winning streak over rival Senator Hillary Clinton to nine.

Up until today’s very contest, many polls and analysts had given Clinton the advantage in a historically conservative state dominated by a largely older voting population. Yet Wisconsin’s open primary system - which allow voters to register on the spot - appears to have overwhelmingly favored Obama. Preliminary exit polling indicates that among Wisconsin voters 49 years old and younger, Obama enjoyed a 64-39 point advantage over Clinton. He won the college-age crowd 59 to 39 percent. The Illinois senator additionally appears to be making inroads on Clinton’s territory, scoring significantly amongst blue-collar workers and women. Both demographics will be necessary for either candidate to win in the upcoming, delegate-heavy contests in Texas and Ohio.

In his victory remarks, Obama said that “It is going to take more than big rallies. It is going to require more than rousing speeches…it is going to require something more because the problem that we face in America today is not the lack of good ideas. It’s that Washington has become a place where good ideas go to die.”

In an interesting development, tonight marks the third time in a row that Senator Clinton has neglected to congratulate Senator Obama on his win, let alone mention the contest at all. Acknowledging defeat and one’s adversary is political tradition dating back hundreds of years.

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On the Republican side, Senator John McCain also stacked up a major victory against challenger Mike Huckabee, whose few delegates essentially rule out the presidential nomination. Whereas McCain and Huckabee split the conservative vote, the frontrunner from Arizona rode to victory on a surge of moderate voters.