Politics Now

Last night were the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. Everybody's been predicting that North Carolina would be Obama's by a landslide, and Indiana would be Clinton's by a large margin also. However- surprise, surprise- things changed a little bit. Yeah, everybody was right about North Carolina. Obama took that by 14%. Not as much as some people expected, but still very significant. Clinton won Indiana, too, but only by 2% of the vote. They didn't wind up calling the race until well after midnight EST. As a result, Obama now has about a 240 delegate lead over Clinton- still much too close. Clinton appears to have no plans to step out of the race, pledging as usual in her victory (?) speech in Indiana last night to fight on. It seems clear now that the race will come down to superdelegates and back-room deals. It's highly improbable that either candidate will reach the necessary 2,025 delegates to clinch the nomination based on the remaining primaries. Meanwhile, John McCain is taking the opportunity to solidify his base, campaign in battleground states, and spend time in town hall meetings at home and traveling abroad, appearing thoroughly competent and presidential throughout. The battle for the Democratic nomination continues with its usual intensity, McCain still looks good to those who are looking for moderation, stability, and experience, and there has not been a presidential race so up in the air in many years. Stay tuned...We're now down to 6 primaries (I think): West Virginia (May 13), Kentucky and Oregon (May 20), Montana, New Mexico, and South Dakota (June 3).