Too Close to Call

I’m not staying up to see results for Ohio and Texas. I guess you’ve heard that Clinton won Rhode Island and Obama won Vermont, which was expected. And it appears McCain officially has the GOP nomination.

See Jeff Greenfield, “Bugs Bunny vs. Daffy Duck.” I’ve always felt the secret to Bill Clinton’s success is that he was Bugs and the GOP in Washington alternated between being Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Well, let’s face it — Obama, not Clinton, is Bugs Bunny in the Dem race.

Jonathan Alter explains that Clinton very likely cannot make up the delegate hole she’s in, even if she wins Ohio and Texas tonight. See also Hilzoy.

Polls and Divination

Polls are saying that Senator Clinton is getting a late surge in voter support (with the help of Rush?) and could win the popular vote in Texas, although probably not the majority of delegates. She’s already favored to win Ohio and Rhode Island. If this turns out to be true, expect a long, nasty fight for the nomination that will damage both Dem candidates.

Contrary indicators: Just before the New Hampshire primary the pollsters said all the trends were moving toward Obama, which turned out not to be true. And the I Ching, which has been stubbornly ambivalent about the candidates for weeks, is now leaning a bit to Obama. My reading of the I Ching is that he’ll do Better Than Expected. However, both candidates will have cause for worry and regret and may be bitten by tigers. See also Michael Tomasky, “The Yeldarb effect.”

Whatever happens, I’m going to be on (workplace alert: don’t click unless your sound is on mute) Blog Talk Radio tomorrow from 1 to 2 pm eastern time, chatting about What It All Means. I’ll be out tonight until after 10 o’clock, but I’ll probably post something when I get home.

In the meantime, here’s some fun stuff to read:

H. D. S. Greenway, “Dancing on the Piano

E.J. Dionne, “The Battle That Clinton Didn’t Expect

And channeling Dylan Thomas:

HTML Mencken, “Rage, Rage Against The Undying of the Right

Jonathan Chait, “The Clinton Campaign’s Dying Light

Update: More —

RJ Eskow, “Comedians and Voters: Don’t Let The Press Bias Toward Hillary Throw You

Nina Darnton, “Picking a President: A Feminist’s Right to Choose

Michael Seitzman, “The Clinton Crystal Ball: What About Day Two?