Barack Obama wins a landslide victory in Mississippi.  Final count, Obama 61%, Clinton 37%.  Obama and Clinton battled it out in the Mississippi Delta and Obama inhaled the sweet smell of magnolias.  Mississippi voters came out for the Illinois senator big time.  The turnout in Mississippi was two and a half times what the Secretary of State predicted.  Over 400,000 people came out to vote in the Magnolia State.  More people turned out in this primary than in the 2004 general election.  The state will proportionally distribute 33 delegates to the candidates.  Exit polls further revealed that Mississippi voters think that Barack Obama is more qualified to be Commander and Chief, 54% to Clinton’s 43%.  Obama also won the 17-29 voting block 67% to Clinton’s 32%.  Clinton won the 65 and older voting block 56% to Obama’s 44%.  Clinton also won white voters 72% to Obama’s 28%.  However, Obama won African-American voters 91% to Clinton’s 9%.  Of voters who decided in the last 3 days, Clinton won 55% to Obama’s 45%.  Mississippi voters were also asked if they believe that Obama is honest and trustworthy, 70% said yes.  When asked whether they believe that Clinton is honest and trustworthy, only 48% said yes.  Obama also increased his popular vote lead over Clinton by 100,000 votes. One interesting fact that came from the exit polls is that a majority of Clinton voters in Mississippi have a favorable view of John McCain.  Therefore, it stands to reason that if Clinton’s voters have a favorable view of the GOP candidate, that they are more open to being persuaded to vote for McCain in the general election than Obama supporters.  A possible Clinton electability issue that should be explored further.  Both candidates campaigned heavily in Mississippi.  The state has an open primary were independents and republicans voted. What was most on the minds of Mississippi voters, Katrina recovery.  The state has been devastated Katrina and recovery is not coming soon enough for its citizens.  Voters looked to the candidates for commitments to make the recovery a priority. Healthcare and the economy were also big issues for Mississippi voters.  Breaking News Update:  CNN just reported that Barack Obama won the Texas caucus.  This fact gives Obama a higher delegate gain in Texas than Clinton.  Because Texas is a two-step process, logic dictates that the candidate who comes out ahead after combining the two steps is the winner of the Texas primacaucus.  Obama received a combined total of 99 delegates from Texas, Clinton received a combined total of 94 delegates.  Final tally, a net gain of 5 delegates for Obama.  Therefore, Obama won Texas!  Obama continues to lead in the delegate count 1608 to Clinton’s 1478.