TX & OH: The morning after.

With wins in both of her firewall states, last night provided a much-needed boost for the Clinton campaign. The results are still being finalized, but this may well be the first set of primaries in which she took the majority of pledged delegates at stake.

Some interesting tidbits:

• The Associated Press is characterizing the Republican and independent vote in Texas as being "evenly divided" between Clinton and Obama. This is a massive change from the last primary in Wisconsin, where Obama won this demographic by a 31 point margin.
• 18% of white Ohio voters acknowledged that race played a role in their decision, while 17% of the demographic factored in gender. Clinton overwhelmingly won both issues, garnering 76% and 60% of the vote, respectively.
• College graduates from Rhode Island actually favored Clinton over Obama, a striking contrast to past primaries where Obama consistently won this demographic.
• Iraq was the second most important issue on the minds of Vermont voters, slightly trailing the economy. Obama won three-quarters of the vote among those that primarily considered the war in their decision.
• Although Clinton won Ohio and Rhode Island by double digits, her actual delegate victory may be far slimmer than that. The number-crunchers over at dKos are projecting a +1 advantage as of 1:19AM. [Update: Markos is now projecting a +13 Clinton advantage as a "best case scenario" for her campaign.]
  

What does this all mean? First and foremost, these victories legitimize Clinton's place in the race. It would be unreasonable to have her bow out when she's proven that she can still win delegates. She deserves credit for how well she did; the exit poll data is notable, in that it demonstrates Clinton's ability to remain competitive in Obama's key demographics.

In addition, last night's results will slow down Obama's momentum. Many pundits will wake up today and consider this a "reset," but I'm not willing to entertain the thought just yet. There's no denying the fact that Obama's campaign has more enthusiasm, which translates to an easier time regaining their footing. With the next two contests in his favor, it's too early to tell whether or not Clinton has managed to reverse the tide.

Coming out of these states, both Clinton and Obama did what they needed to do. Terry McAuliffe, chairman for Clinton's campaign, stated that would win Ohio, Texas, and Rhode Island. She managed to do just that. Obama, on the other hand, needed to maintain the margin of his pledged delegate. As it stands, it looks like he'll walk away with a one delegate dent to his lead.

The clear loser here is the DNC, which now faces the task of ensuring that the final results of this race do not infuriate major portions of the Democratic party. After weeks of speculation from the media, their dream is about to be realized: this will indeed go on to Denver. No one expected that 24 hours ago.

Before Clinton supporters break out the champagne to celebrate, however, it's worth noting that the current trajectory of this race still remains unfavorable for her campaign.

Immediately after the news broke of Clinton's victories, columnists from three publications -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, and The Atlantic Monthly -- remarked that there was no realistic path for Clinton to clinch the nomination.

As promised, I've looked over the results and crunched the numbers based on possible scenarios over the next few months. Rather than have you wade through my amateur analysis, however, I'll let Marc Ambinder handle the topic.

He notes, "Under a fairly neutral scenario, she needs about 55 percent of the remaining pledged delegates to catch Obama . . . to get 55 percent of the remaining pledged delegates, she needs to win about 72 percent of the popular vote in most of the rest of the 18 or so states that haven't voted."

For additional reading, check out this dKos diary that breaks down the remaining races by the number of delegates in the district. If you want to join in the fun, you can download the spreadsheet I've been toying around with here.

And then there's the following:



Since Super Tuesday, Clinton's superdelegate lead has been steadily declining. In fact, Tom Brokaw heard whispers of Obama securing an additional 50 superdelegates on top of what is currently known. If true, this would place him in the lead for both the pledged and unpledged delegate counts. Also keep an eye out to see if the trend continues after the end of his winning streak.

So Clinton supporters, the work is certainly cut out for you. The math doesn't look optimistic, and after Wyoming votes this Saturday, the pundits will go back to calling Obama the presumptive nominee.

That said, despite the missteps of the campaign, you guys have some of the sharpest minds working for your candidate. Her worst case scenario would still result in an influential role in the party. And, as they say, it's never wise to bet against the Clintons.

And Obama fans? Stop panicking. This idea that the lot of you are impressionable is being perpetuated by the fact that you're conceding defeat after a day of contests that resulted in a virtual delegate tie. Take a look at the calculations. By all accounts, your candidate is still well on his way to victory at the convention.

Obama said that this would not be easy. It's high time you started listening to what he has to say beyond the inspirational rhetoric.

Welcome to the world of politics.