What’s clear at this point is Obama will not get any sort of landslide.

Apparently the electorate isn’t THAT angry.

18 electoral votes to McCain.

Moving on…

I don’t believe for a moment that Obama will win here, but if the turnout is incredibly high then it could be incredibly close.

Chuck Todd thinks so too…

The state has seen Democratic success in House and Senate races for years but that hasn’t trickled up for the presidential since ‘64. Could all that change this year? I think so. The key ingredient for Obama? Same-day voter registration; it’s his ace in the hole.

And folks, the idea that we’re even talking about North Dakota at this point is significant, isn’t it?

More as it develops…

It’s overwhelmingly favoring Obama…

Across the state, Democrats showed the most first-day enthusiasm. Of the nearly 114,000 first-day voters, 64 percent were Democrats, 21 percent Republicans and 15 percent were unaffiliated.

African-American turnout was up significantly. Black voters, who make up about 22 percent of registered voters, were 36 percent of Thursday’s early voters.

In 2004, blacks made up 18.6 percent of voters.

This large percentage of early voting among African Americans follows similar patterns in Georgia…

A disproportionate number of Georgia’s 194,138 early voters are African-American, in what could be an encouraging sign for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

As of Wednesday, about 39 percent of those voters — 74,961 — are African-Americans, Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel’s office said.

African-Americans make up 29 percent of registered voters in the state, according to Oct.1 figures. They cast 25 percent of the total votes cast in the presidential election four years ago.

Simply put, this is the type of turnout you need to win. And if this is happening all across the country, then it hints at a landslide. I’m not saying it’ll happen, but the signs are starting to point in that direction.

Need more proof?

See the only other “North” state in the union.

Listen folks, I don’t care what Drudge is saying about a McCain comeback. If Obama is competitive in North Dakota, the chance of the Republican becoming President is, well, as likely as the scenario that FiveThirtyEight is predicting…

In other words, slim to none to done.

Some very surprising numbers from a state that went for Bush by 28 points in 2004.

Here are some details…

• McCain is up by double digits with men.
• Obama leads by 9 with women
• McCain takes 87% of Republicans
• Obama takes 79% of Democrats
• Obama leads by 18 among Independents
• Obama leads by 20 with voters who name the economy as their most important issue
• McCain leads by 37 with voters who name national security as their most important issue

And to those last two points…

Thirty-nine percent (39%) view the economy as most important while 24% say the same about national security.

Given that the economy is the number one issue on voters minds right now, McCain better try to untether himself from Bush on this or he risks Obama capturing one or two of these safely red states come election time. After all, Rasmussen showed Obama up by 5 in Montana recently, a state that Bush won by 20 points in 2004 and 25 points in 2000.

More as it develops…

It must have been quite a spread then.

More soon.

Sure, you technically can because they technically can switch, but they’re not really supposed to. Because if they do, that’s really subverting the will of the voters. And I think it should be stated again, these are the delegates meted out based on the vote of primary voters. If they switch, that overturns the will of the voters.

As I’ve said before regarding all this stuff about delegates, it’s certainly within her rights to do whatever she wants, but you can only push this “fighter” meme so long before it starts to become a caricature. It’s like that scene with the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. You know, the one where King Arthur keeps cutting off the Black Knight’s appendages, but he keeps on fighting?

Better to just embed the scene…

I love the line, “I move for no man.” Oddly fitting.

Listen, I’m not telling Hillary to get out, but let’s not forget that Obama won Texas…and didn’t Bill say she had to win both Ohio and Texas? Yes, she won the popular vote, but these contests aren’t solely about the popular vote. And even if it were, Obama is leading in that category too overall.

So here’s the question: does Hillary really want to be know as the Black Knight of the Democratic party?