Showdown in Texas

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's victories in Texas and Ohio changed little in the race for pledged delegates—by some estimates she netted only five—but Tuesday's primaries changed the dynamic of the Democratic contest, the Wall Street Journal reports. The candidates have divergent arguments: Barack Obama's team says the math favors him; Clinton's claims she should be the nominee if momentum lies with her. More »

(Newser) - With caucus results still coming in last night, Barack Obama's camp projects a victory for their candidate in Texas delegates. While Clinton won the Tuesday primary by a thin margin, netting her 65 delegates to Obama’s 61, Obama appears to have prevailed in the caucuses later that night, giving him a net delegate victory as big as 99-94, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's victories in Texas and Ohio herald a long, ugly scrap for the Democratic nomination—and the big loser may be the party, reports Newsweek . It remains unknown how many delegates the New York senator won last night, but Clinton can now brush aside calls for her to end her candidacy as the race moves to its next big battleground: Pennsylvania, six weeks away on April 22. More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton scored her dramatic comeback in last night's primaries by getting tough—even nasty—with her opponent, Josh Marshall writes on TPM, and the question is now whether Barack Obama has it in him to fight that kind of fight. "Can he take this back to Hillary Clinton, demonstrate his ability to take punches and punch back?" If Obama wants to win this, Ben Smith writes on Politico, “he’ll need to shove her off the stage.” More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton today hinted that she’d be willing to bury the hatchet and share a ticket with Barack Obama, the AP reports. “That may be where this is headed,” Clinton told CBS’ The Early Show, “but of course we have to decide who is on the top of ticket. I think the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me.” More »

(Newser) - The two-step voting process in Texas caused Democratic tempers to flare last night, the Washington Post reports. Both sides accused each other of trying to hijack the evening caucus which followed the day's primary vote. The Clinton campaign held a  conference call with reporters to level some dirty-tricks accusations at the Obama camp—only to find an Obama lawyer listening in.   More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton pulled off victories in both Texas and Ohio largely by wooing back her Democratic base, according to Politico . Exit polls show that Hispanics and white women favored Clinton, while blacks favored Obama by a huge margin, and white men were split—similar to Super Tuesday. But white men appeared to provide the crucial "swing vote" in Ohio with 55% going to Clinton. The candidate has picked up 15 percentage points with white women and about 20 points with white men since Wisconsin. More »

(Newser) - Traders in online prediction markets are betting on Barack Obama and John McCain as the winners in their respective primaries today. The Intrade and Iowa Electronic futures markets let traders wager real money on outcomes political and otherwise; both markets give Obama's chances for winning the nomination as almost 80%, reports CNNMoney. More »

(Newser) - On the eve of primary contests that could sink or save her campaign, Hillary Clinton turned up on The Daily Show for some good-natured ribbing from host Jon Stewart. "Tomorrow is perhaps one of the most important days of your life, and you've chosen to spend the night before talking to me," observed the pseudo-newscaster, to which Clinton could only respond: "It is pretty pathetic." More »

(Newser) - Even right-wing standard bearer Rush Limbaugh's most loyal dittoheads might balk at their latest orders from the radio host: he's urging his listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton in today's Texas primary, CNN reports. "I want Hillary to stay in this," Limbaugh told listeners. "This is too good a soap opera." Limbaugh wants the Democratic infighting to carry on for as long as possible. More »

(Newser) - Top Democrats are urging Hillary Clinton to quit if she can’t score big in Tuesday’s primaries, the New York Times reports. Senators John Kerry and Dick Durbin, both Obama backers, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson pressed her today to consider party unity if she loses in Texas and Ohio. “I just think that D-Day is Tuesday,” Richardson said on “Face the Nation." More »

(Newser) - While acknowledging success for Mike Huckabee is "mathematically impossible," the Dallas Morning News today endorsed the ex-Arkansas governor. The editorial board praised his “good-natured approach to politics” and acknowledged that its continuing support is more symbolic than practical, calling a vote for Huckabee “a good investment in the Republican Party's future.” More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton's support in Hispanic communities is well documented, but the voting patterns of Hispanics are not as easy to characterize as her pollsters make them out to be, reports the New York Times. The issue of identity politics is a complicated matter that clearly does not guarantee that all minorities rally behind a minority candidate, and gives a "Rainbow Coalition" all the substance of a cloud. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s camp yesterday accused Hillary Clinton of unfairly slamming the upcoming Texas primary-caucus vote, McClatchy Newspapers reports. The issue arose over a report that Clinton may sue over caucus voting numbers being reported early. “I think they’re afraid of what the caucus results might be,” said an Obama strategist. More »

(Newser) - Barack Obama threw Hillary Clinton's "red phone" ad right back at her yesterday—with a twist, the Chicago Tribune reports. Clinton's ad showed sleeping children, with a voice intoning that it's 3am, and a phone is ringing the White House. “Who do you want answering the phone?” Barack's rejoinder, with almost identical imagery: “When that call gets answered, shouldn’t the president be the one—the only one—who had the judgment and courage to oppose the Iraq war from the start?”  More »

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton today debuted an ad hinting at dire consequences of electing a commander in chief who isn’t “tested," ABC News reports. "It's 3am and your children are asleep," a voice says over images of sleeping infants. "There's a phone in the White House, and it's ringing. Something is happening in the world. Your vote will decide who answers that call." More »

(Newser) - Although Texas' ornery primary-caucus hybrid doesn't take place until March 4, polls are already open and voters are flooding "the reddest counties in a deep red state" to choose a Democratic presidential candidate. The record early turnout is an eye-opening phenomenon, writes Austin American-St