Update: Here is Hillary's Speech.

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Hillary Clinton's West Virginia victory speech is about to start. I'll be live-blogging with continuous updates. Feel free to live-blog your reactions in the comments.

9:06 pm ET: Here she is. She's by herself. Thank you West Virginia. Like the song says, "It's Almost Heaven." I am so greatful for this overwhelming vote of confidence. [More...]

On CNN, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson did a fantastic job pushing back on the 2025 Magic Number focusing on the importance of seating Florida and Michigan. Donna Brazile did her usual schtick. Some neutral Party figure.

But Howard Wolfson talks about voters. Donna Brazile talks about the rules. Who do you think wins that PR war. Wolfson's winning slogan for seating the delegates:

"It's the right thing to do and it is the smart thing to do." He's right.

The video. The FL/MI discussion is in the second half at the 4:50 mark.

By Big Tent Democrat

Update: First laugh of the night: On CNN, Donna Brazile says tonight is not a loss for Obama, it's just a win for Hillary. Do they bother to think before they open their mouths?

MSNBC says the exit polls show it was Obama's poorest performance in any primary so far. Neither Gore nor Kerry took W. VA. Bill Clinton did. Translation: John McCain just picked up 5 electoral votes if Obama is the nominee.

Update: The media is fixated on pledged delegates, talking about how close Obama is to winning the magic number. They don't want to mention that the 800 superdelegates can change their mind any time until August. They sure talk about it when one jumps from Hillary to Obama. As long as Hillary stays in, the superdelegates can consider electability in November. Obama has not shown he can win PA, Ohio, FL and those are crucial in November. [More...]

Hillary Clinton just sent out this e-mail to her supporters:

After tonight's tremendous victory here in West Virginia, it's clear that the pundits declaring this race over have it all wrong. The voters in West Virginia spoke loud and clear -- they want this contest to go on.

I'm listening to the voters -- and to you.

With your help, I'm going to carry the energy of tonight's victory into the next contests in Kentucky and Oregon. And just as always, I'll be depending on you to share every step of this journey with me. You have worked your heart out, put yourself on the line for what you believe in, and given generously. And I'm not about to turn my back on you.

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The West Virginia exit polls indicate that he lost white voters 69-28. Astounding? Not really. In Ohio, Clinton won white voters 64-34. In Pennsylvania, Clinton won whites 63-37. Indiana? Whites went for Clinton 60-40. Massachusetts? Whites went for Clinton 58-40. Rhode Island? 63-31 for Clinton. North Carolina? 61-37. And the same in Arkansas, Tennessee, Maryland, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, Missouri and so on.

Obama has won the white vote in Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, Nebraska, etc. West of the Mississippi all of them EXCEPT Wisconsin and VA..

West Virginia is not an anomaly. Obama's white working class problem is EAST of the Mississippi. It is not just Appalachia. It MUST be addressed. Calling West Virginia names is not going to solve the problem.[More...]

Update: The first discussion of West Virgina I've heard is happening with Terry McCauliffe talking to Chris Matthews. He says Hillary will win W. Va. by 2:1 and by possibly 200,000 votes. He expects she will be ahead in the popular vote once KY and Puerto Rico vote, counting the 2.3 million votes in FL and MI. He says she will give the best speech ever tonight, he's seen a copy. He says the superdelgates will go her way once they realize she's better to beat McCain. He still expects the race to be decided in June.

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The media is focused on Barack Obama. Even his flag pin is more important than the West Virginia primary. MSNBC is running Obama's delegate numbers at the bottom of the screen. Fox News is reporting on various state elections. My local news is talking about Roy Romer's endorsement of Obama today. [More...]

The early West Virginia exit polls are out from the Associated Press. What stands out to me:

If they had to choose, seven in 10 voters said they'd prefer that their candidate wins the Democratic presidential nomination, even if the race continues for months. A quarter said they'd prefer the race ends as soon as possible, even if their candidate loses the nomination.

...Barely a third of Clinton supporters say they'd vote for Obama over John McCain in a November matchup. As many claim they'd vote for Republican John McCain and a quarter said they would not vote for president. If that horse race were Clinton vs. McCain, half of Obama backers say they'd vote for Clinton, about three in 10 say they'd back McCain and the rest would stay home.

The voters are 95% white, 50% rural and 40% are over age 60. 70% do not have college degrees.

I wonder about this. CNN is reporting Obama will speak from Missouri within the hour BEFORE`the West Virginia polls close. I believe that is a mistake. Does Obama really need to spin now? He needs to fight for these voters. This is not the way to do it. (6:15)Obama speaking now. Talking about Dems not being divided and clear choice in November. Sounds like the standard stump speech.

Imo, this is bad from the Obama camp.

Exit poll - Clinton wins 69% of the white vote, 71% of women. This is a biiiiig won.

Exit poll. Experience voters - Clinton 93-3. Changers voters - Obama 53-45.

Jerome Armstrong makes a great point:

Demography is political destiny. In West Virginia too. There are turnout issues in that the Media has portrayed the race as over. Obama has spent plenty of money in WV and I am sure the Obama camp will be working overtime to get their voters out.

My speculation, 6% of the vote will be A-A and Obama wins 90% of that vote. The remaining 94% goes 67-33 Clinton. Thus, the final score will be 64-36 Clinton. A 28 point win. The Obama memo predicted a 12 point Clinton win. What is your guess?

By Big Tent Democrat

Comments closed

The Hillary Clinton campaign sent out a memo today on why West Virginia's primary matters.

Shorter version: Obama may not have spent much time in West Virginia but he threw an awful lot of resources at it.

Some quotes below, but the link takes you to the full memo.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be in the U.S. Senate today to vote on a few bills. Why? MSNBC's Chuck Todd says it's to court the labor vote.

The bill at issue is "a procedural vote allowing state and local first responders collective bargaining rights."

This is a hilarious development:

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson, a Democratic convention delegate pledged to support Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, said yesterday that he thinks Sen. Barack Obama has "in a real sense" won the Democratic nomination and that he now plans to support Obama at the August convention.

Heh. Now it seems to me the Obama camp needed to tell this fellow he should not do that. But they did not:

David Plouffe just . . . mentioned that the Clinton Campaign has said that pledged delegates could switch. He said their focus is on reaching 2025 total delegates and that it is in reach.

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