Initial Returns From Pennsylvania

Over on American Idol, the remaining contestants are being forced to sing songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

My response to that?

My response to that is to turn over to Fox News and watch their coverage of the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary.

And, extremely early results and exit polling have led the pundits on Fox to declare that...

...THE ELECTION IS TOO CLOSE TO CALL!

(Sorry for shouting but this is a little bit surprising...)

Seriously, wasn't Hillary Clinton supposed to walk away with this state easily?

Well, before we declare this to be an upset, I should point out that the "too close to call" ruling is almost entirely the result of exit polling and, as previous primaries have shown, Barack Obama always does better in the exit polls than Hillary Clinton.

Why is this?

If you voted for Hillary, would you actually want to admit it to a stranger?

Face it, Obama's the cool candidate this time around.  Voting for Obama is the hip thing to do.  He's young, he's charismatic, he's the first black man to have a serious chance to win the presidency, and he gives speeches that are filled with the type of simplistic (and idealistic) slogans that so many voters wish could actually somehow translate into viable government policies.  He's the guy that everyone wants to be seen with even if, deep down, they're usually counting the minutes until they can find an excuse to escape his company.

Voters want to be seen embracing the idea of Obama even when they can't bring themselves to support the reality of the man.

So, let's not count Hillary out just yet.

Still, if Obama did somehow score a win here, how would Hillary justify continuing her campaign? 

Hmmm.

Sometimes it seems like I ask that after every Democratic primary.

Here's what we do know.

Win or lose, Hillary Clinton will find a way to keep her campaign going. 

Hell, I imagine she'll still be campaigning for the Democratic nomination in November while the rest of the country is trying to decide between Obama, McCain, Barr, Keyes, McKinney, and Nader.

Hillary's like a creature out of Faulkner.  She endures.