May 06 2008
Indiana and North Carolina split
Things are progressing pretty much as expected in the Indiana and North Carolina Democratic presidential primaries this evening. There are 72 pledged delegates at stake in Indiana and 115 in North Carolina.
The networks have already called North Carolina for Barack Obama. With 4% of the precincts reporting, he is leading Hillary Clinton 64% to 34%.
No winner has yet been projected in Indiana. 37% of the precincts have reported. Mrs. Clinton is currently leading with 56% to Mr. Obama’s 44%. Thus far, the voting pattern seems to be following what we have seen in most of the rest of the nation. Senator Clinton does well in the less populated rural areas while Senator Obama carries the more densely populated urban and suburban areas.
Mr. Obama will ultimately come out of the evening winning the most delegates, but Mrs. Clinton will spin her win in Indiana into a much bigger deal than it is. The battle will continue for at least another week.
On the Republican side, John McCain (the presumptive nominee) is squeaking out a pair of victories. As of this writing, he has 77% of the vote in Indiana and 79% in North Carolina.
10:00 PM CDT - Final update of the evening. Indiana: 86% reporting - 52% Clinton, 48% Obama. North Carolina: 91% reporting - 56% Obama, 42% Clinton. The popular vote, for those keeping track of such things, both states combined - Obama, 1,342,269; Clinton, 1,168,993 (a difference of 173,276).
Prediction: Senator Obama will clinch the nomination on May 20. Enough superdelegates will commit to him between now and then to allow the voters in Oregon to put him over the magic number of 2,024 on that date.
One Response to “Indiana and North Carolina split”
Here’s to hoping that your prediction is right!