With 67% of precincts reporting and the numbers measuring up as follows:

Governor – 67% reporting

Deeds – 50% [96,466 votes]
McAuliffe – 26% [50,549 votes]
Moran – 24% [46,281 votes]

Lt. Governor – 66% reporting

Wagner – 74% [129,888 votes]
Signer – 22% [38,033 votes]
Bowerbank – 5% [7,978 votes]

We’re going to call it for Creigh Deeds and Jody Wagner the new Democratic Governor and Leutenant governor nominees for the Commonwealth.  Democrats get ready to fall in line for the fight against GOP Governor and Lieutenant governor nominees Robert (Bob) McDonnell and Bill Bolling.  Deeds is McDonnell’s worst nightmare given his conservative blue dog bent.  McDonnell had his sight set on running against “carpetbagger” Terry McAuliffe.  Congratulations  Mr. Deeds for a well won victory.

So here is the Virginia Democratic line-up for November 2009:

Governor: Creigh Deeds          Lieutenant Governor: Jody Wagner          Attorney General: Steve Shannon

FINALLY, it is over!  Sen. Barack Obama is officially the presumptive democratic nominee.  After fifteen months of rigorous, high octaine, campaigning, Barack Obama finally claimed victory last night over this historic primary race.   After losing South Dakota to Clinton 55% to 45%, but trouncing her in Montana 57% to 41%, Sen. Obama made history last night by becoming the first African-American/black person in the western world to head the ticket of a major political party.   And he did it by running a positive, uplifting campaign.  The Illinois Senator said in front of a crowd of 30,000 in Minnesota “I will be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America.”  Sen. Obama ended the night with 2156 delegates and made headlines around the world.  PROGRESS.

Headlines around the World (see below) 

El Pais (Madrid): Obama se convierte en el primer candidato negro a la presidencia de Estados Unidos
^{(Obama becomes the first black candidate to the presidency of the United States)}

Financial Times (London): Obama clinches the Democratic nomination

The Telegraph (London): Obama limps over line despite Dakota defeat
^{Senator becomes the first black nominee in history despite Clinton win in South Dakota.}

Le Monde (Paris) Interrogations sur la stratégie de fin de campagne d’Hillary Clinton
^{(Questions on the ending strategy of Hillary Clinton’s campaign)}

Berliner Morgenpost (Berlin): Barack Obama lässt sich als Kandidat feiern
^{(Barack Obama can be celebrated as a candidate)}

Reforma (Mexico City): Hace Obama historia; asegura nominación
^{(Obama makes history; nomination assured)}

Clarín (Buenos Aires): Obama logró los delegados necesarios y es el candidato demócrata a la Casa Blanca
^{(Obama obtained the necessary delegates and is the democratic candidate to the White House)}

Jakarta Post (Jakarta, Indonesia): Obama seals nomination; McCain eager for battle

The Australian (Melbourne): Barack Obama claims nomination but Hillary Clinton hangs on

Al Jazeera (Doha, Qatar): Obama ‘wins Democratic nomination’
^{Illinois senator projected to become first African-American presidential candidate.}

Jerusalem Post (Jerusalem): Obama seals Democratic presidential nomination
^{Defeated Hillary Clinton maneuvers for the vice presidential spot on Illinois senator’s ticket without conceding her own loss.}

Ottawa Citizen (Ottawa): Obama first black nominee for White House
^{Clinton vows party unity}

China Daily (Beijing): Obama seals Democratic nomination
^{Barack Obama sealed the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, a step toward his goal of becoming the first black US president.}

Hillary Clinton wins Puerto Rico!  Sen. Obama called Sen. Clinton to congratulate her on her win.  Unfortunately for Sen. Clinton, the turnout on the island was not enough to give her what she was hoping for in terms of a lead in the popular vote count.  The turnout was a disappointing 50% below what it has been in previous elections reaching a mere 384,000 of the 3 million registered voters.  The 55 delegates at stake will be divided proportionally.  Puerto Rico cannot vote in the general election therefore the primary does not speak to either candidates electability in November.  The Clinton family made a total of four visits to Puerto Rico in their vigorous effort to boost her popular vote count.  Sen. Clinton is expected to use the popular vote count to argue to superdelegates that she is the more electable candidate.  Also, Clinton’s claim of a higher popular vote count does not include caucus states, Guam, or the Virgin Islands.  States and territories won by Sen. Obama.  Clinton math….you gotta love it.  To clinch the nomination, the victorious candidate must win 2118 delegates by the end of the primary contest.  The previous 2025 number was increased yesterday to 2118 after the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted to include half of the Florida and Michigan delegations at the conclusion of their meeting on Saturday.  Thereby increasing the number of delegates to the 2118 number required to reach a majority because of the newly seated Michigan and Florida delegations.  The previous 2025 number did not include the Michigan and Florida delegations because both states delegates were stripped when both states moved up their primaries in violation of DNC rules.  The DNC RBC sat Florida as the voters voted in the Sunshine state giving Clinton 56 delegates to Obama’s 36.  From Michigan, Clinton received 38 delegates and Obama received 31 with Obama receiving the uncommitted votes in Michigan plus an additional four delegates to reach a total of 31 overall.   Including today’s results out of Puerto Rico as they stand now with 29% of the vote in, Obama has 2071.5 needing only 46.5 more delegates to clinch the required 2118 victory number.  Clinton has 1911, needing 207 more delegates to clinch the nomination.  There are a total of 204 undeclared superdelegates remaining.  After the results from South Dakota and Montana, Obama will need a mere 20-25, contingent upon the Montana and South Dakota margins of victory, of the undeclared superdelegates to win the nomination.  Clinton needs 195 of the remaining undeclared superdelegates to win the nomination.  On Tuesday, South Dakota and Montana go to the polls.  It is expected that the Obama campaign, in the next 48 hours, will roll out the additional 30 superdelegates it needs to clinch the nomination.  The Obama campaign is encouraging superdelegates to publicly declare before the Montana and South Dakota primaries so that it can declare an official victory soon after the polls close in these last two states.    

Too early to get a final margin because Oregon is a mail-in vote and the votes are still being counted.  With 88% of the vote in, the margin is Obama 58%, Clinton 42%.  This win marks a significant milestone for Sen. Barack Obama.  The Illinois senator now has won the majority of pledge delegates.  What does that mean?  Clinton needs 104.17% of the remaining delegates to beat the majority that Obama has secured.  Obtaining such a majority is mathematically impossible.  There are only 86 pledge delegates left to be won in the remaining states.   There are three primaries left, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana.   In his speech in Iowa last night, Obama told his supporters that the “nomination is within reach.”

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton won Kentucky by a significant margin. With 100% of the vote in, Clinton won Kentucky 65% to 30%.  The fact that Clinton was able to garner such a significant amount of support when it is being reported that her campaign is on its last legs is a testament to her skill and tenacity.  The Kentucky win also increased Clinton’s popular vote count by 250,000.  The Clinton campaign also reported that she raised 22 million in the month of April.  Unfortunately, it will not make a difference in this primary process.  Most have concluded unoficially that Barack Obama is the democratic nominee.  During Obama’s speech he recognized Clinton for her contribution, formidability, and history making campaign.  The Ilinois senator said this about his rival, “Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age.”  I agree with this comment wholeheartedly.  Congratulations Sen. Clinton for a race worthy of a significant moment in history.

Barack Obama attracted the largest crowd of this primary in Portland Oregon this past weekend.  The record drawing crowd was at least 75,000 strong with spectators watching from the lawn of the Tom McCall Waterfront Park.  The park could not hold the enormous crowd so Oregonians watched from boats, outside the park, and any other place that would allow them access to the Illinois senator.  Portland is the state’s largest urban area and has been monikered by its residents as “the whitest major city in the United States.”  The state of Oregon is also a breeding ground for anti-war activism and sentiment, so Obama’s opposition the the Iraq war contributed to him being an early favorite in the state.  Tomorrow, residents of Oregon and Kentucky will have their say at the ballot box.  Though Obama has virtually conceded Kentucky to Clinton, the Illinois senator is expected to pull out a decisive victory in Oregon.  Obama is not expected to declare victory tomorrow for fear of appearing presumptuous.  However, the Windy City senator will have won the most pledge delegates and a win in Oregon will make it officially impossible for Clinton, in the remaining primaries, to overtake his pledge delegate lead.  Obama will have to pull out a decent victory in Oregon and decrease Clinton’s margin of victory in Kentucky.  If the feedback from the Obama call banks are anything to go by, Clinton’s margin of victory will not be as large in the Bluegrass State as it was in West Virginia.  Kentucky is a culturally conservative state that does not care for Wall Street but there is a growing populous discontent in the state.  Republicans are polling poorly in the state and this may offer an opportunity for Sen. Obama to take advantage.  Having said all that, even though Obama will essentially win the nomination tomorrow, declaring victory may antagonize Clinton supporters thereby making it more difficult to unify the party after the primary season is completed.  That does not change the reality however that this race is over.  Nor does it take away from the fact that the Obama camp have solid and legitimate reasons for optimism. One being the fact that not a single superdelegate, uncommitted or undeclared, can be found to say that he/she would be willing, despite Obama’s pledge delegate lead, to overturn the result and make Clinton the nominee.  Therefore, Obama is on solid footing in his belief that he will become the official democratic nominee on Tuesday night.  Sen. Obama has chosen to spend Tuesday, not in Kentucky or Oregon, but in Iowa.  The place where his imminent rise in contention and legitimacy began.  Obama spent eight months in Iowa prior to its primary.  Eight months well spent by most calculations.   

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.

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. 

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. 

John McCain makes an interesting admission yesterday.  The Arizona Senator said yesterday that his winning the presidency is linked to his support of the Iraq war.  McCain said that if he cannot convince the American people that the surge is working then he will not win the White House in November.  McCain picked up two more wins yesterday,  Puerto Rico and American Somoa.  This gives McCain 971 delegates total.  The Senator is closing in on the 1191 needed to clinch the nomination.

Barack Obama won handily in Hawaii by 76% of the vote. Obama’s winning streak increases by 2, to equal 10 wins in a row.  It looks as if the Windy City Senator has won the momentum fight going into the March 4^th primaries in Texas and Ohio.  Wisconsin was a sort of test site for the Clinton campaign as to whether its decision to use negative campaigning would boost their numbers and slim Obama’s margin of victory.  Clinton campaign officials have said that they will continue to go negative because the strategy did work in Wisconsin, even though Obama won by 17 percentage points.  The campaign opines that the Wisconsin victory margin is less than that of the Potomac Primaries so the strategy was a success.  Wisconsin exit polls revealed that 58% of voters felt that the Clinton campaign unfairly criticized Obama.  Only 33% thought that the Obama campaign unfairly criticized Clinton.  Wisconsin is known for its distaste of negative campaigning. Further revelations from the exit polls showed that 51% of the voters thought that Obama would be the best Commander-in-Chief.  Also, when Wisconsin voters were asked who cares about them, 54% believes that Obama cares more about them as people.   For Clinton to be competitive for the nomination at this point, she will have to win over 70% of the popular vote in the remaining battleground states.  In which, she would receive 65 percent of the delegates in those states.  This would be a shock heard around the world if Clinton were able to pull off such a feat given the dynamics of the race thus far.  If Obama wins 65 percent of the remaining delegates, he can win the nomination with just elected delegates.  The Senator would not need the superdelegates, he could clinch the nomination just from the primary and caucus vote.  Obama now leads Clinton in elected delegates by about 150, has won more states, and leads in the popular vote.

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. 

Hillary Clinton has just won New Mexico.  The New Mexico primary took place on Super Tuesday. It took the the state nine days to count the ballots.  The race was very tight and Clinton won by a very slim margin.  However, a win, is a win, is a win……even if it is nine days late.  They must be using the finger counting method in the Land of Enchantment.  Even still, I am sure that Senator Clinton is very happy to finally get some good news.  Given the proportional system utilized by the democrats, the victory margin is slim enough that it is likely that both candidates will receive an equal amount of delegates.

Barack Obama and John McCain has won all three contests within the Potomac primaries.  On the democratic side, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia gave Barack Obama significant victories over Hillary Clinton.  More specifically, Virginia was very significant.  Considered a sort of bellwether state, Obama won over voters that have previously voted for Clinton.  For example, Obama won the latino vote 53% to Clintons 37%.  In Virginia and Maryland, Obama won 59% of the women vote.  Obama split the Virginia overall white vote with Clinton by winning 48% of the total demographic.  Further, Obama also won heavily among white men in Virginia.  In addition, Obama won the catholic vote.  As for Obama’s across-the-isle appeal, republicans represented 8% of the vote in the Virginia democratic primary and Obama won 70% of their vote.  The Senator from Illinois has managed to broaden his coalition by reaching across the isle with a unifying message.  Both candidates were vying heavily for Virginia voters.  Clinton considered Virginia her best chance of a win within this group of contests.  However, Obama won a substantial victories over Clinton in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.  The final tally for Virginia is 64% to 35%, Maryland, 59% to 37% and the District of Columbia, 75% to 24%.  These wins will give Obama eight victories in a row thereby giving Obama a delegate lead over Clinton.  Before this contest, the Associated Press reported that Clinton lead with 1136 delegates to Obama’s 1108.  After the Potomac primaries, Obama takes the lead with 1210 delegates and Clinton falls slightly behind with 1188 delegates.  These AP totals includes Superdelegates.   Additionally, Obama has won a total of 21 states to Clinton’s 10.  The Clinton campaign has said that their focus is on the March 4th primaries of Ohio and Texas.  Clinton is already campaigning in the Lone Star State in hopes of building a firewall against the Obama momentum.  Though, continued wins by Obama could put a kink in Clinton’s strategy.  It will be difficult for the Clinton campaign to spin eight successive wins by Obama as insignificant.   As damage control, Clinton made telephone calls to several of her donors and supporters asking them to hang in there with her until Ohio and Texas.  However, if Obama’s momentum continues to build, Ohio and Texas may not be the result that the Clinton campaign expects. Obama has already hit the ground in Wisconsin campaigning for its primary on February 19th.  As for the Republicans, McCain also won all of the Potomac primaries.  It seems that McCain in winning over conservatives, at least he did so in Virginia and Maryland.  The final tallys were Virginia, McCain 50% and Huckabee 41%, in Maryland McCain 59% and Huckabee 29%. and the District of Columbia, McCain 68% and 35%.  Virginia is especially significant due the large amount of conservatives in that state.  The fact that McCain won Virginia may be an indication that the tide may be turning and the far right of the GOP has begun to rally around the Arizona senator.  Huckabee was hoping to win Virginia to legitimize his continued participation in the race.  However, the former Arkansas govenor is not dropping out and vows to stay in the race uintil McCain hits the magic number of 1191 delegates.   The McCain campaign has labeled the affable Arkansan an “irritant.” After McCain’s win of Virginia, most have concluded that he is the Republican nominee.  There isn’t a math calculation that adds up to Huckabee becoming the GOP nominee for the 2008 Presidential niomination.  As a side note:  Clinton’s deputy campaign manager, Mike Henry, resigns.

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. 

Barack Obama proves again that he is a force to be reckon with.  The Jr. Senator won both Nebraska and Washington 68% to Clinton’s 32%.  Obama also won 57% of the Louisiana vote and 90% of the Virgin Islands vote.  This has been a great night for Obama.  There was a total of 161 delegates up for grabs tonight.  In the states where Clinton received at least 15% of the vote, the delegates will be split proportionally between the two candidates.  The candidates move on to the Maine caucuses today where 24 delegates are at stake. Next stop, the Potomac, or the beltway primaries on Feb 12th. Both candidates will be battling for precious delegates in the District of Columbia, 37 delegates, Maryland, 99 delegates, and Virginia for 101 delegates.

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. 

Hillary Clinton has won the beauty contest in Florida.  Unfortunately for the Clinton campaign, Florida has been stripped of all its delegates.  After Obama’s momentous win in South Carolina, the Clinton campaign decided that Florida is hugely important. Most report that the sudden interest in Florida by the Clinton campaign is an attempt to eclipse or break Obama’s momentum going into Super Tuesday.  Because we recognize the obviousness of this campaign strategy, I ask…can you be a bit less obvious?  News flash to the candidates…we are a pretty bright electorate once we decide to engage.   This Clinton win has been reported as based purely on name recognition.  All of the democratic candidates, including Clinton, signed a pledge to boycott the Florida primary after Florida moved up its primary date in violation of Democratic National Committee rules.  However, the Clintons have been in national politics for twenty years.  Therefore, and by default, when voters go to the polls and they have not had a chance to get to know the two other candidates, they are more likely to choose what is familiar, i.e., Hillary Clinton.  Therefore, because the Clintons have a built-in advantage in that they are more famous and have been on the national political scene a lot longer than the other two candidates, any win in Florida does not represent a true decision or endorsement by Floridians.  All the candidates agreed not to campaign in Florida, and Edwards and Obama specifically, were prohibited from familiarizing Florida voters with their policy agenda.  Because none of the candidates were able to explain why each would be the best candidate to represent Floridian interests in the general election, the Clinton win is disingenuous and hallow and does not represent a true victory in an informed voter or substantive sense.  Note:  The majority of voters who voted a month ago, and before Iowa or South Carolina, overwhelmingly voted for Hillary.  However, the majority of voters who voted after Iowa and South Carolina went overwhelmingly for Obama.