Obama has, at this point, won 11 states, of 22 in play. Worst-case scenario, he's already won half. If he picks up Alaska, which I suspect he will, he wins the battle of the states.California is looking like it might head SUSA's way, so that'll be good news for Hillary. But the rest of the night is bleak. She didn't exceed expectations anywhere. She lost states she led big in just a few weeks ago. She's hurting for money. The calendar up ahead is tailor made for Obama. The momentum is there.
And hey, look at that -- Obama just took the lead in Missouri.
Clinton has a big win in CA. Obama has an upset in CT and a comeback victory in MO. Obama wins at least
And the attention now turns to Ohio and Texas, voting in exactly one month.
All the way to Denver, all the way down to the wire.
Update (2/6): A great take here from Richard Dunham at Texas on the Potomac:
Best line of the night: Mike Huckabee.
Huckabee has accused Republican rival Mitt Romney of flip-flopping on issues including abortion, gun control and gay rights, declared that Romney now has changed his position on "whining." You see, Romney complained bitterly on Super Tuesday about the tactics used by Huckabee to win the 18 delegates in West Virginia.
"You know, yesterday, Mitt Romney was saying, 'Don't be a whiner,'" Huckabee told CNN. "Now, yesterday he was against whining. Today, he's for whining."
Worst endorsement: John Kerry (of Barack Obama).
The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee couldn't even deliver his own home state.
Best endorsement: Scarlett Johannson (of Barack Obama).
Kerry and Teddy Kennedy failed to bring Massachusetts into the Obama column, but the 23-year-old movie star did her (small) part to create record turnout in Minnesota's Democratic caucuses, including unprecedented participation by the young voters Johannson targeted. Plus, she looks better in photos than Teddy and Kerry.
Biggest upset: Huckabee's win in Alabama.
Mitt Romney ran far below expectations in Alabama, and conservative evangelicals gave Huckabee a narrow win over McCain.
Most interesting race of the night: Missouri.
In the state that has the best track record of picking presidents of any state in the union, both parties had very close contests. With 98 percent of the Missouri vote in, Obama was clinging to a 1 percentage point lead over Clinton. And the Republicans had a tight three-way race, finally won by McCain.
Least interesting race of the night: New York.
Hillary Clinton and John McCain won landslide victories. Lots of delegates. No drama.
Best newspaper story of the night: Michael Tackett of the Chicago Tribune.
Tackett began his story on Super Tuesday by declaring:
As a former president might put it, maybe it depends on what the definition of "win'' is.
