As regular readers here know, I was certainly hoping that Clinton would be entirely knocked out last night, take her negative Karl-Rovish campaign shtick and head back to the Senate, where maybe she could quit campaigning and get some work done. But it was not to be. She decisively won Ohio and Rhode Island, Obama won Vermont, but on Texas she only skittered over the finish line, 51 to 47 (and I can't help but wonder how much the turnout of Republicans who didn't vote in their own primary but voted Democrat in order to vote FOR Clinton to prolong the race had anything to do with some of that win). Her win is especially not as terrific when you consider that when she started she was way ahead of Obama in the polls and he definitely closed the gap

That said, wins are wins. After Obama won 11 in a row against her, why whine when she wins a couple here? I also think that Obama appears to have been surprised that some of her negative campaign tactics worked, such as the whiny working-the-refs dog-whistle she did during the last debate.

 “I am a little surprised that all the complaining about the refs has actually worked as well as it has for them,” [Obama] said, using a sports allusion to the news media as referees. “This whole spin of how the press has just been so tough on them and not tough on us — I didn’t expect that you guys would bite on that.” -- March 4, 2008 (The Caucus)

I was surprised, too; I thought she sounded like such a whiner and I didn't know WHY she was complaining about always getting the first question, ie "Why is Everybody Always Pickin' on me?" .. but it seemed to work, as the tone of the media changed. And, as it changed, and Obama got not only more scrutiny but some lampoons thrown his way, he seemed to ignore it rather than figure out how to beat it back. I think that's a hard situation to navigate-on the one hand, he is for change and NOT the old dead-end politics of the Clintons, but if he doesn't immediately step up and fight back against all of her *kitchen sink* crap, he won't be able to garner support for his candidacy in the future. And, I think it's fair for the pundits to point out that if he doesn't push back against Clinton, who seems to be working hard to give McCain Republican Talking Points for the general, then people might question how he will put down Old Coot McCain! I don't know what that balance might be, but trying to remain above the fray and ignoring the champing dog at your feet who is biting desperately at your ankles doesn't work.

So, Obama is still the winner in delegates. It's more than annoying that Clinton's team continues to try to denigrate his wins as not important, when, in fact, they were part of the democratic process-going for superdelegates to break for one candidate will not be.  Last night I got into a discussion with a friend of mine as we were watching the results go up at the board downtown and she said that no one can afford to leave the vote blank, that one MUST vote for the Least Worst. Of course by that she meant a matchup of McCain versus Clinton, should Clinton play the Screw You, I get the Superdelegates card. I can't go for that anymore; I'm tired of not voting for who I want that I think would NOT be poltiics as usual, just to keep a creepier person out of office.

One more note locally. Much as I hate to admit it, there is a lot of racism in this county and fear of the unknown. I'm not even sure that any black people LIVE in Somervell County-if so, then you can probably count the families on your one hand. I heard that one person said he wasn't voting for Obama because he didn't like his name! Well, I don't like the name Poindexter but I don't think that would stop me from voting for an able candidate. For counties like this, Obama's campaign, in my opinion, needs to work on having people NOT see him as different, strange, or somehow tied into the muslim/terrorist narrative. I ran into that type of thing a number of times when I was doing call downs. One person told me that if Obama got the nomination, there would be civil war in this country-but he also believed that Obama was a muslim because "everyone said so"-that wasn't Somervell County but someone from Comanche County. I wish that people were more grown up and tolerant but the facts are that, while people in general have gotten beyond that type of divisiveness, many, especially in rural areas like mine, have not. And educating, fighting back against the baloney, and familiarizing people with Obama is essential. Especially since Clinton has exercised no restraint in engaging in the whisper campaign tactics of racism against Obama, which may help her win over some xenophobes but certainly doesn't engender respect for her.

P.S. Just saw an item in which Clinton hints at Obama as VP on her ticket. Pffttt on that. I won't vote for Clinton. Period.