Primary Live-blogging

Whew! This is late to the game I know, but my co-bloggers and I have been caucusing tonight (thread on that to below.) And as I sit down to type, it appears that Clinton has won Ohio and finally gets a stop against the Obama campaign. Clinton also picked up Rhode Island, while Obama has taken Vermont. Of course, our great state remains far too close to call as many, many caucuses have yet to wrap up. As for the Republican side, McCain has taken all four states as expected and solidified himself as the Republican nominee.

UPDATE: John King of CNN knows what he's talking about. He's scrolling up and down and from right to left and back on that fancy electronic primary map of theirs, explaining how Hillary has swept rural areas, but Obama is racking up huge numbers in Texas' major population centers. There's simply no telling at this point or anytime soon who is going to take Texas.

UPDATE II: Apparently Clinton staff have charged Obama supporters with some shenanigans in some Texas precincts, allegedly "locking out" Clinton supporters from the caucus, or getting the precinct packets early, or some other nonsense. I saw nothing of the kind, but I did see a fairly disorganized process in which a particularly savvy supporter/campaigner of either side could get in and try to make a mess of things. But I also saw a lot of people of both sides getting involved in the process, making it difficult to imagine that anybody could get away with much of anything. The Obama campaign thinks this is nonsense of course, and I'm reserving my judgment until I hear something besides anecdotes from people who may not entirely be aware of how the process works and weren't there to see it first-hand.

UPDATE III: Clinton is ahead by about 60,000 votes in Texas, but as John King at CNN rightly points out, were Obama's present lead in places like Harris County (where with only 33% of precincts reporting Obama leads 60-40) were to hold through all the returns from that county, that would provide Obama with enough votes to take the lead in Texas. Speculation of course, but a sign that the race could easily tighten even further before the night is over.

UPDATE IV: CNN is finally getting some results for the Texas caucuses. With 5% of precincts reporting, Obama leads 56-44.

UPDATER V: CNN is calling it for Clinton in Texas. The delegate totals are what count in the end, but no doubt Clinton is still in the race. And for Clinton, tonight was about prolonging what may only be inevitable.

UPDATE VI: Phillip Martin at Burnt Orange Report is not yet convinced they ought to be calling Texas for anybody, but he's quite sure that Clinton's win in Texas is only a win when you fail to consider Obama's overall delegate lead and the fact that he could still wind up with more delegates in Texas. We knew ahead of time that only overwhelming victories in Ohio and Texas could put Clinton back ahead, and she didn't get them. Obama's momentum may be blunted, but he's still the man to beat.

UPDATE VII: One good thing about Clinton's success tonight is getting to read about notorious Clinton-hater Andrew Sullivan having to drink himself to sleep.

UPDATE VIII: While I don't think Texas is over by a long shot, I'm calling it for myself tonight. More to follow in the morning.