| In somewhat of an upset, Hillary Clinton won both the Texas (51-48) and Ohio (54-44) primaries, as well as Rhode Island (58-40). Obama won Vermont, 59-39. (By the way, CNN added a bitchin' interactive map to its state results; it's pretty dang cool. You can swipe your mouse over the different counties in each state and see the results for each...nice work!)
To make things especially confusing, Texas also holds a caucus, which appoints its own delegates. CNN shows Obama leading the caucus, 52-48.
Reactions:
The word of the day is "comeback." The Boston Globe's Helman and Milligan: "Senator Hillary Clinton breathed new life into her presidential bid last night with key victories in the Ohio and Texas primaries, ending Barack Obama's month-long run of momentum and adding yet another twist to the historic contest for the Democratic nomination."
Steve Benen thinks the recent Clinton attacks worked: "This isn't a value judgment. If you're an Obama fan, the argument is, 'Clinton couldn't make an affirmative case for her nomination, so she had to tear Obama down. She'll do anything to win, even if it hurts the party and helps Republicans.' If you're a Clinton, the argument is, 'We played rough, and it worked. This proves that Clinton is a fighter. Besides, if Obama can't withstand relentless attacks now, he won't be able to withstand relentless attacks later.'
"Who's right? In all likelihood, both are."
Kos crunches the numbers and estimates that Clinton won 191 delegates to Obama's 178 yesterday. That's not much of a victory for Clinton. Kos: "So the stark reality remains -- even in this best-case scenario, Clinton only chipped Obama's pledged delegate lead from 159 to 148. Yet last night offered more than 1/3rd of remaining delegates, 370. Only about 560 remain in the contest."
Time's Mark Halperin looks at some of the upcoming primaries - Wyoming, Oregon, Pennsylvania - and reaches this conclusion: "Given the remaining contests - many with electorates favorable to Obama - Obama's existing hundred-plus delegate lead, and the rules by which Democrats apportion delegates, it is almost a political and mathematical certainty that Obama will have an elected delegate lead at the end of the process, barring dramatic, unforeseen circumstances."
Interestingly, Hillary Clinton this morning floated the idea that Obama and she should both be on the general election ticket, now it's just a matter of fighting for the top spot. A month ago, this suggestion would have seemed ludicrous; today, given the near deadlock among Democrats, it seems like the smart thing to do. Obama plays it coy.
And if all this Democratic infighting and horse-race talk is getting you down, mull this statistic: "2,833,000 Texans voted for John Kerry in the 2004 general election, but 2,857,000 people voted in last night's Democratic primary." |
