Please don’t forget to vote in Virginia today.  The polls are open from 6am - 7pm and you may vote at any time during those hours.  Everyone who is registered to Vote in Virginia can vote in the Virginia primary today.

Please see this prior post on on the differences in the three candidates.

Check for your polling place here

A total of 330,714 people voted in Virginia yesterday, 76,000 of which voted in early voting.  Clinton pulled out a substantial win of 67% to Obama’s 26%.   Given the fact that Obama did not campaign in West Virginia, such a wide margin was expected.  A total of 28 delegates will be awarded.  Pundits are asking why did West Virginians vote for Clinton knowing that most have proclaimed the race over and Obama as the nominee?  To that question I have a different question, why did 7% of West Virginians vote for John Edwards even though he has been out of the race since January?  A notable percentage of West Virginians appear to be saying we don’t like the woman or the black guy.  This bolsters an argument that I make later in this article.  The exit polls revealed that 20% of West Virginia voters thought race an important factor in their decision.  That is a pretty high number to overcome.  However, it is not insurmountable with a few more visits to the state.  Many of the pundits are punditing that Obama may have an issue in the general if he is unable to connect with the type of working class voters that make up West Virginia.  My question is, are the pundits overstating the importance of carrying the white vote?  Why is it only republican stategist and pundits like Pat Buchannan, Joe Scaborough, Tucker Carlson, and Lou Dobbs that insist that Obama has a problem because he is not winning every single identity group?  Also, why is it only the republican strategists and pundits who continue to promote the idea of a “Dream Ticket?”  It seems to me that if the conservative right cannot get Clinton on the top of the ticket, they will accept her in the VP spot just to get her on the ticket. As I’ve mentioned before, nothing rallies the conservative base like the potential of the Clintons back in the White House.  Just as background, West Virginia voted for Bush twice and traditionally is a very conservative state.  My guess is that if Clinton expects to hold such voters in a general election, she is miscaculating.  Pundits say that Clinton has been able to connect with working class voters in West Virginia, I say that the connection is fleeting when John “maverick” McCain enters the picture.  A Quinnipiac national poll released today makes my point.  McCain is leading Obama among white voters 47% to 40% but McCain is also leading Clinton 48% to 41% among white voters.  This really undercuts Clinton’s argument that she appeals more to whit voters.  If there was no Obama on the ticket in Westy Virginia, chances are that such voters would not be supporting Clinton in the numbers that they did yesterday.  Simply because of the Clinton’s history and identity-politics.  One problem evidenced by the West Virginia exit polls is that 50% of West Virginians believe that Obama shares Rev. Wright’s views.  This is clearly a result of not campaigning in the state, something that can be remedied in the general election.  Obama won neighboring Virginia by 29 percentage points so it is very probable that he will bring West Virginians into the fold.  Finally, a bit of historical perspective.  The last democrat that carried the white vote in a presidential election was Lyndon Johnson in 1964.  Bob Dole carried the white vote in his presidential bid against Bill Clinton in 1996 and as most of you know, Dole lost.  It seems to be more important to build a coalition that is a cross-section of all of America.  What does the West Virginia win mean….it does not change the race in any way but does give the pundits something to talk about for the next week until the Kentucky and Oregon primaries on May 20th.

Barack Obama wins North Carolina by a whopping 14 point margin 56-42!  Sen. Clinton wins Indiana by a slight margin of 51-49.  Sen. Clinton said in the days leading up to the North Carolina that the state would be a game changer.  Apparently North Carolinians made the decision that they would not be gamed.  Both states experienced record turnout during this primary.  Over 1.5 million voters turned out in North Carolina.  Over 1 million voted in Indiana.  Obama shifts to general election mode and most say that the elected delegate is over.  Most say that Obama is now the nominee.  Obama improved his numbers with women in both states.  Clinton has had arguably the best four weeks of her campaign with allies such as the press, republicans, and John McCain.  Obama on the other hand has had the worst four weeks of his campaign and the Clinton campaign was unable to capitalize on it.  For the past two months Obama was hit from all sides; the media, all the Clintons, the republican party, John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, etc.,  and Sen. Obama weathered the storm beautifully.  The idea that this freshman Senator from Illinois will be the nominee for the President of the United States is an absolutely extraordinary accomplishment of Obama, his campaign, and the American people.  Anyone who says that he cannot beat Sen. McCain in the general election are simply blowing smoke.  Obama has shown numerous times what he is made of and now it’s time for the superdelegates to put us all out of our misery and call this thing.  Clinton’s numbers with core democratic groups such as African-Americans are becoming more and more dismal.  While Obama’s numbers with women and low income white voters have steadily improved.  Clinton won a mere 6% of the African-American vote in North Carolina and only 8% in Indiana.  These numbers are down from Ohio and Pennsylvania which were 13% and 10% respectively.  Obama increased his popular vote number by 240,000 votes.  This is more than Clinton the 200,000 votes than Clinton won Pennsylvania by.  The question now is when will Clinton bow out gracefully?  Does not make sense for Clinton to continue this race if there is not a realistic chance of her winning in the popular vote or in elected delegates?  Not really.  There is no rational reason to continue.  Superdelegates now do not have a reason to hold back and drag this race out until June.  Clinton has lost her last chance to pull an upset and it is time to unify behind the nominee.  UPDATE:  Tim Russert proclaims Obama the nominee and Clinton cancelled all morning interviews and campaign appearances for today.  It looks like this is finally coming to its conclusion folks.

General Information for Indiana       

72 delegates at stake

Find your polling place in IndianaIndiana polls are open from 6am -6pm Tuesday, May 6th

VOTING BASICS

You have a right to vote in an Indiana election, if:

1.     You are both a U.S. citizen and a resident of Indiana; and

2.      You will be at least 18 years of age at the next General Election, November 4 2008; and

3.      You are not currently in prison after being convicted of a crime; and

4.      You have lived in the precinct where you vote for at least 30 days prior to the election; and

5.      You are registered to vote

6.      You provide government-issued photo ID. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Clinton wins Pennsylvania.  As of Wednesday morning, according to the most recent tabulation from the Pennsylvania Secretary of State,  the current spread is 54.6% to 45.4% with 99.99% of the votes counted.  This is only a 9% spread which is much different than what the main stream media is reporting as 10%.  

Obama actually improved his numbers since Ohio, even though Pennsylvania is tailor made for Hillary Clinton.  In Ohio the spred was 10%, in Pennsylvania it is only 9%.  Pennsylvania has the second oldest population in the country, a demographic that is primed for a Clinton win.  This was also a closed primary where independents and republicans, two groups that Obama usually carries, were not allowed to vote.  Pennsylvania will divide 158 delegates proportionally between Obama and Clinton.  Turnout was 52%, double the turnout in 2004.  Exit polls reveal that voters whose primary issue is the economy are voting for Clinton 57 to 43.  Voters whose primary issue is Iraq are voting for Obama 57% to 43%.  There were 300,000 new voters in Pennsylvania, 35% of which are in Philadelphia and suburbs also known as Obama country.  17% of undecided voters made up their minds in the last three days.  Seniors vote to Clinton 61 to 38.  African-American vote to Obama 92 to 8.  White male to Clinton 55 to 45.  42%  says U.S. in a serious recession.  Less than 1% consider electability an issue.  Pennsylvania voters rated the following issues as most important: change 49%, experience 26%, cares about me 14%, electability 8%. 54% think that the economy is the most important issue, and 28% think that Iraq is most important.  1 in 5 Clinton voters feel that Obama will be the nominee.   64% of women voted for Clinton.  55% of white males voted for Clinton, 45% voted for Obama.  As for voters who thought that either candidate attacked the other unfairly, 67% thought that Clinton attacked Obama unfairly, and 48% thought that Obama attacked Obama unfairly.  Late deciders who decided within the last three days went to Clinton.  Newly registered democrats backed Obama.  In addition, 29% of those newly registered voters said that they would not vote for Clinton if she is the nominee. Clinton will probably net about 14 more delegates than Obama out of Pennsylvania, in addition to increasing her popular vote count by 200,000. 

In contradiction to Hillary Clinton’s declarations this weekend about a credentials fight on the convention floor in Denver, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the party will have a nominee soon after the Puerto Rico primary June 3rd.  The official primary period ends on June 10th.  After speaking at the California State Convention this weekend, Pelosi answered a couple of questions  from reporters.  Reporters asked whether the remaining uncommitted superdelegates will make their decision known by July?  Pelosi answered “[i]t will be much sooner, right after the public has voted.”   Another uncommitted superdelegate Bob Mulholland also chimed in, “[p]eople ought to just relax,” Mulholland said. “Whoever is ahead by 50 delegates or so, you’ll see the super delegates move that direction. It’ll just happen naturally.” Mulholland has not endorsed Obama or Clinton.  In her speech, House Speaker Pelosi told democrats to remain focused on November and to “keep your eye on the prize.”  Donna Brazil also said on This Week that the Democratic Party has an “exit strategy” and anyone who thinks that there will be a convention floor fight is sorely mistaken.  Brazil reiterated what seems to be a consensus of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates that the Party will not allow this fight to go to Denver.  Therefore, it looks like regardless of how many tantrums are thrown by the Clinton campaign, the party leaders are ending this fight well before the convention in August.  Thank goodness for small favors…this fight has been an emotional roller coaster for most engaged voters.  An additional fact worth mentioning is that even if the Democratic Party was silly enough to allow this to go to the Credentials Committee, the math still does not work in Clinton’s favor.  Howard Dean has already appointed 25 members to the credentials committee.  Each state sends three representatives to the Credentials Committee in Denver, Obama has won far more states than Clinton, therefore he will have far more representatives and support on the Credentials Committee.  That does not add up to a Hillary Clinton nomination.  Looks like the party leaders have made the decision not to join in on Clinton’s murder-suicide pact.

In a statement released to the Associated Press on Sunday night,  Sen. Amy Klobuchar endorsed Barack Obama for President.  In her statement Sen. Klobuchar said Obama “has inspired an enthusiasm and idealism that we have not seen in this country in a long time.”  The Senator compared Obama to former vice president and Minnesota Senator, Hubert Humphrey.  Obama won Minnesota by a wide margin in February over Clinton.  The official announcement will be made later today.  Also, in an effort to begin the process of uniting the party, seven North Carolina Democratic House members plan to endorse  Obama as a group BEFORE that state’s primary on May 6th. 

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. 

Obama makes a comeback after last Tuesday.  Even though it is debateable as to who won Texas because Obama is leading in the second step of the primacaucus right now, Wyoming held its caucus today and Obama came out smelling like a rose.  Senator Barack Obama wins Wyoming handedly with a double digit margin over his rival Senator Hillary Clinton.  Obama will receive a proportional amount of the 12 delegates being allocated in Wyoming.  In addition, Wyoming also has 6 superdelegates.  The final tally was 61% to 38%.  This is a landslide victory for the senator from Illinois.  It was a record turnout in the the Equality State.  Nicknamed because it was the first state to give women the right to vote in 1869.  The irony is amazing.  It truly has earned its moniker as the state of equality given today’s results.   Another irony is that it is also the state that pushed John F. Kennedy over the top to win the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 1960.  The turnout in Wyoming was so overwhelming that party officials had some issues accomodating everyone wanting to participate.  However, they were able to accomodate everyone.  There were 23 county caucuses across the state and a total of 59000 democrats registered in Wyoming.  Before the Wyoming caucus, Obama lead in delegate counts 1571 to Clinton’s 1462.  A total of 2025 delegates is needed to win the nomination. 

MI Caucus Likely, Says DNC Rules Committee Member

A member of the DNC’s Rules And Bylaws Committee–the committee that stripped Florida and Michigan of its delegates for moving their primaries before February 5th–told me that Michigan plans to get out of its uncounted delegate problem by announcing a new caucus in the next few days.“They want to play. They know how to do caucuses,” the DNC source said. “That was their plan all along, before they got cute with the primary.” Michigan Democrats had originally planned on caucuses after the legally permissible Feb. 5 date, but then went along with top elected Democrats, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who pushed for an early primary.

Hillary Clinton won that Jan. 15 primary, but was the only major candidate on the ballot. Barack Obama and John Edwards had removed their names, see story

Looks like the Governor of Florida is offering his support for a repeat democratic primary.  Because taxpayers pay for primaries in Florida, this would help with the financing portion of the repeat.  How kind of the the Governor to help out the democrats…(sarcasm intended).  Newsflash: if the REPUBLICAN Governor of Florida, who endorses his party’s nominee for his governing state’s primary, offers assistance to the opposing party……beware of true motives.  I’ll just point out the obvious.  It is in Crist’s interest to drag out the democratic primary with the two democratic candidates slinging as much mud as possible so that his party has ample necessary opposition research.  Democrats can be sure that all the negatives asserted between the two democratic candidates during this primary will show up in the general election in the form of republican ammunition.  I know that the media wants to drag this out because it translates into millions of advertising dollars, but it is really time for the democrats to UNITE behind a single nominee or face a serious risk of losing the general election in the fall.  We also now have conservative republican talk radio hosts encouraging their listeners to vote for Clinton because McCain has pretty much locked down the republican nomination.  The shock jocks are asking their listeners to use their vote in Ohio and Texas to sabotage the democrats for the general election by way of voting for the candidate that they have railed against for the last 20 years.  The longer this is drawn out the more susceptibility to mischief by the opposing party.  Democrats, its time to choose a candidate and make a decision before you shoot yourself in the foot.  Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who has not endorsed either democratic candidate, has also said whomever is ahead in delegates on Wednesday Oct 5th, should be the nominee and the other candidate should drop out of the race.  This should be about who can best lead and unite the democratic party as a whole, as well as who can beat the opposing party in November.  This should be less about supporting an entitlement theory.  Those who are backing the theory that Clinton should wait it out in hopes of Obama making a mistake is based on an underlying false premise that somehow Clinton is entitled to the nomination.  Or, there is some sort of financial gain involved for the person/industry supporting the strategy.  I have heard a couple of pundits pushing this approach.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  Democrats need to be DECISIVE on March 4th and start preparing  for the general election uphill battle in November.

The Texas contest is somewhat complicated in that it is a mixture of a primary and caucus.  Voters in essence get to vote twice.  First voters vote during the day at the primary, which is an open primary where republicans and independents can vote.  Then right after the doors shut at 7pm on March 4th, the caucus begins and lasts until Texas’ democratic caucus on June 6th.  Voters can come back after 7pm in the evening on the same day and vote again during the caucus. There are 193 Texas delegates at stake on March 4th.  Of the 193, 126 of the delegates will be handed out from the primary portion.  And the 67 remainder delegates will handed out at the state convention in June.  Delegates are allocated based on how voters turned out in past elections.  The greater the turnout in the district the more delegates the district receives in the next election.  As for delegates relating to heavily african-american and hispanic districts in Texas, this year’s allocation favors the heavily african-american districts because such districts turned out in greater numbers in the last election than the heavily hispanic districts.   Therefore, african-american districts in Texas will receive more delegates than many of latino districts in Texas.  Early voting in Texas began on February 19th.  Primaries are also being held in Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island.  Both the democrats and republicans hosts primaries in all four states on March 4th, except Texas also hosts a caucus. The two most delegate rich states are Texas and Ohio.  For the democrats, 370 delegates at stake on Tuesday.  Texas distributes (126)193, Ohio distributes 141, Vermont distributes 15, and Rhode Island distributes 21 delegates.  Currently Obama is leading with 1192 delegates to Clinton’s 1036.  For the republicans, 256 delegates are at stake on Tuesday.  Ohio distributes 85, Rhode Island distributes 17, Texas distributes 137, and Vermont distributes 17.  Currently McCain has 930 delegates and only needs 261 more to clinch the nomination. 

The democrats overseas have spoken and Barack Obama wins their votes.  Their are a total of 11 delegates to be apportioned.  The final tally from the Democrats Abroad Global primary is 65% Obama and Clinton 32%.  The global primary began Feb 5th and continued through Feb 12th.  Voting stations were set up in 33 countries.  Democrats in countries that did not have voting centers were able to vote via mail, Internet, and fax.  The largest number of expatriates live in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico.

After a fierce battle between Obama and Clinton in the Copper State, Obama shines.  The Senator from Illinois wins Wisconsin by a significant margin of 58% to 41%.  The Clinton campaign was hoping to reduce the victory margin to a single digit win but Obama won by 17 points.  Wisconsin has 74 elected delegates and 18 superdelegates available, totaling 92 delegates up for grabs in the state.  Wisconsin was true blue but has shown a tendency to swing or be purple due to the influx of progressives in the state.  The Badger State is also a critical win for Democrats in November.  Having said all of that, the state is also tailor made for Hillary Clinton.  White working class voters make up the majority of the electorate.  The significance of this Obama victory is not missed because the Senator has again broadened his coalition.  The white women vote was split almost evenly between Clinton and Obama with Clinton winning the group 53% to Obama’s 45%.  Obama won white men 62% to Clinton’s 36% and made inroads with working class voters increasing his percentage to 48% to Clinton’s 51%.  Clinton did win with three other groups: seniors, voters with less than a college education, and catholic voters.  The Illinois Senator won 63% of all voters who decided in the last month.  As to the issues, Obama won on healthcare, the war in Iraq, the economy, and electability.  According to exit polls, seven in ten voters believe that international trade takes jobs from the United States.  The North American Free Trade Agreement may have hurt Hillary in this regard because many states like Wisconsin and Ohio have been deindustrialized because of the Agreement.  It is significant that Bill Clinton was the primary force behind the passage of NAFTA.  Another contributing factor to the outcome of the Wisconsin contest is same day voter registration, citizens can register to vote and actually vote on election day.  In addition, Wisconsin is an open primary where independents and republicans vote in the democratic primary, two groups that tend to go for Obama.  The exit polls also revealed the following facts about Wisconsin voters: 43% thought the economy is the most important issue;  29% are concerned about the war in Iraq;  25% are concerned with healthcare;  90% of the voters thought the economy is not doing well;  17% of voters were first time primary voters;  27% were independent voters; 59% of the voters had income levels over $50,000. McCain also won in Wisconsin and Washington state.  McCain will receive the 40 delegates from Wisconsin and 19 delegates from Washington state. 

Both the democrats and republicans will be battling it out in the Wisconsin primary today.  Other states holding contests today include Hawaii with its Democratic caucus and Washington State with its GOP primary.  For the democrats there are 92 delegates up for grabs in Wisconsin and 20 delegates at stake in Hawaii.  For the republicans, Wisconsin has 40 delegates available and 19 delegates at stake in Washington state.  The real focus will be on Wisconsin today.  Both Obama and Clinton are neck and neck in the Copper State.  Wisconsin is a state made up of Clinton’s base, blue collar, working class, and only 6 percent african-americans.  Most would say that Wisconsin is tailor made for the Clintons, yet the Clinton campaign initially decided to pass on trying to win the state.   The Clinton campaign has said  that it does not have to win Wisconsin to win the nomination.  The question is whether Obama can pull out a win in the Badger State.  This is a very tight race between the two democratic candidates.  Turnout is expected to be record breaking, notwithstanding current weather conditions.

Today all the candidates battle in the beltway.  For the democrats, a total of 168 delegates are at stake in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland.  Virginia boasts the biggest prize of 83 delegates, then Maryland with 70, and the District of Columbia holds 15 delegates.  The Democratic candidates are in a dead heat, and both Clinton and Obama have been campaigning heavily in the Beltway over the last couple of days.  Last count, according to NBC, Clinton has 1136 delegates to Obama’s 1108.  For the republicans, there are a total of 113 delegates at stake in the Potomac primaries.  Virginia will be shelling out 60 delegates, Maryland 37, and the District of Columbia 16.  McCain is still very much the GOP frontrunner with 724 delegates and Huckabee is trailing significantly with 234 delegates.  Virginia is an open primary so a registered voter can vote in any party primary regardless of his or her party affiliation.  Maryland is a closed primary where voters may vote in a party’s primary only if they are registered members of that party.  The polls in Virginia are open 6am to 7pm, you must be in line at 7pm in order to vote.   In the District of Columbia and Maryland the polls are open from 7am to 8pm.  These hours may be extended if there are voting irregularities or problems, so check with your precinct for updated hours.  Most importantly, please don’t forget to VOTE TODAY.

The Omentum seems to continue as Barack Obama adds another victory to his  sweep of victories this weekend.  This will be the fifth victory in a row for the Senator from Illinois.  The Maine caucus was one where the Clinton campaign thought that they would be able to pull out a win due to the positive numbers that they received in the state recently.  Clinton also hoped to win Maine in an effort to blunt Obama’s momentum going into the Feb 12th primaries.  Apparently, Maine voters had a different plan in mind.  Both campaigns saturated the state with radio and TV advertising.  The excitement about the caucus, even after the pinnacle of Super Tuesday, was not diminished.  There was tremendous anticipation and exhileration among voters showing up at the polls.  Not even the frigid temperatures could chill the enthusiasm of many of those who stood in long lines to make sure that their vote was cast.  Each of the candidates will receive a proportional share of the 24 delegates allotted.  As a side note:  Hillary Clinton replaced her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.  This new development took place on Sunday, right after Clinton lost four contests in a row to Obama.  The Clinton campaign has stated that Maggie Williams will be taking over as campaign manager beginning next week. 

The governor from Arkansas has taken Kansas and Louisiana.  Kansas is a very conservative town and flocked towards the conservative candidate to give him an landslide victory.  Huckabee won 62% of the vote.  In Louisiana it was a close race between McCain and Huckabee but Huckabee squeaks out the win.  However, according to Louisiana rules a candidate must receive 50% of the vote to receive any delegates at all.  Unfortunately for Huckabee, he did not reach the threshold.  McCain wins Washington.  Huckabee reiterated yesterday that he is not quiting.  Even though pundits speculate that it is nearly impossible for the Huckabee to win the nomination given that  John McCain is so much further ahead in delegate count.  However, Huckabee stated that he would rather be right and lose rather than be wrong and be part of the crowd.  It looks like he stood out from the crowd in Kansas and somewhat in Louisiana. 

It was a big night for John McCain and he proudly proclaimed himself the frontrunner for the republican nomination.  The senator from Arizona won key delegate rich states from New York to California.   Few would disagree that McCain has gained tremendous momentum.  McCain’s rivals, Romney and Huckabee, vow to stay in the race until the convention if necessary.  As for Obama and Clinton, both won victories in key states to end the night with no end in sight.  Obama won more delegates and more states.  Clinton won most of the northeastern corridor.  Neither of the two democratic candidates can legitimately claim an overall victory. However, I am sure that the campaign staffers will figure out a way to spin the results so that their candidate comes out on top.  Clinton maintained a majority share of the latino vote.  Obama maintained the lion share of the african-american vote.  However, Obama averaged 40% of the white vote which is what many of the analyst predicted that he would need in order to form a formidable coalition of voters that can push him through to the White House.  Unlike in previous contests where Clinton held a sizeable lead over Obama with women and white voters,  Clinton now only holds a slight edge with these groups.  Clinton won California which was billed as one of the big prizes of the night.   Obama won Missouri which has been billed as the bellwether state. New Mexico has yet to declare the democratic winner of it’s state but the last update showed a 70 vote difference between Obama and Clinton.  Obama is slightly ahead in the delegate count.  The February 9th primaries for the democrates  are Lousiana, Nebraska (caucus) and Washington (caucus).  For the republicans, its Louisiana, Kansas, and Washington (caucus).  The democrats have the Maine caucus on February 10th.  Both parties have primaries on February 12th in Maryland, Virgina, and DC.

The polls closed at 8pm in several of the Super Tuesday states.  McCain won Illinois, New Jersey, and Connecticut.  McCain’s effort to beat Romney in Romney’s home state of Massachusetts failed, to Romney’s relief.  Romney won his home state and is now anxiously waiting for the California results.

Georgia voters have spoken and Barack Obama is definitely on their mind!  The results are in and Obama wins in Georgia by double digits against his chief rival Hillary Clinton.  The Senator from the Windy City will receive a proportion of the 86 delegates available from the southern state.  Obama received  43% of the white vote in Georgia, this is up significantly from South Carolina where he only received 23%.  Maybe the Senator of Illinois is on to something…what do you think?  The republican race is still too close to call.  The contenders in the tight 3-way race for the republicans are Huckabee, McCain, and Romney.  McCain be very careful about what you wish for.  Huckabee may turn into a serious contender for the republican nomination.

The first primary decision of the day is Mike Huckabee takes West Virginia.  After the first round of the caucus in West Virginia, Romney led.  However, at the second round, McCain voters gave Huckabee their support thereby giving Mike Huckabee the win.