Allow me to briefly interrupt the breathless examination of exit polling data and the latest returns to point one thing out: whether you are a Clinton fan or an Obama supporter, your candidate is contributing to an emerging landslide of political participation.
As of 8:10 PM PST, fourteen states had at least five percent of their precincts reporting in primary elections (sorry, this does not work for the caucus states). Of those fourteen states, ELEVEN of them had higher Democratic turnouts than Republican turnouts. And there is a helluva caveat with a twelfth state.
Follow me for the numbers....
This has been UPDATED!!! This is as of 8:10 PM PST...
ALABAMA (90% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 486K, REPUBLICANS 485K
ARIZONA (39% Reporting): REPUBLICANS 311K, DEMOCRATS 233K
ARKANSAS (52% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 149K, REPUBLICANS 105K
CONNECTICUT (86% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 298K, REPUBLICANS 134K
DELAWARE (100% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 96K, REPUBLICANS 50K
GEORGIA (87% Reporting)**: REPUBLICANS 863K, DEMOCRATS 814K
ILLINOIS (73% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 1,447K, REPUBLICANS 572K
MASSACHUSETTS (86% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 1,059K, REPUBLICANS 419K
MISSOURI (81% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 620K, REPUBLICANS 471K
NEW JERSEY (94% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 1,042K, REPUBLICANS 473K
NEW YORK (96% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 1,651K, REPUBLICANS 573K
OKLAHOMA (99% Reporting): DEMOCRATS 401K, REPUBLICANS 330K
TENNESSEE (83% Reporting): REPUBLICANS 488K, DEMOCRATS 412K
UTAH (6% Reporting): REPUBLICANS 28K, DEMOCRATS 15K
**--A major caveat with Georgia. Fulton County, the home of Atlanta's heavily Democratic urban core, had only seen 44% of its precincts reporting at that time.
I will continue to update this as the night goes on, but the bottom line is this. Democrats are (a) reasonably satisfied with their candidates (70%+ of both Clinton and Obama supporters would be satisfied with either candidate, according to the exit polls tonight), and (b) fired up to vote. Republicans are fractured, and it seems a good many of them are voting with their feet during this campaign season.
There is miles to go before we sleep, friends, but America seems ready and willing to give the Democrats a chance. We need to harness this energy, and exploit the Republican lethargy. If we do so, I like our chances in November a great, great deal.