Clinton said to win Ohio

After its analysts declared just a bit ago that "it could be hours" before we get a clear idea of the outcome in Ohio, NBC and CNN have decided to call the state for Hillary Clinton. The numbers are 57% for Clinton, 41% in Ohio with 52% reporting.

Results are still trickling in from Texas, which is holding both a caucus and a primary tonight. Here's an excerpt from a Daily Kos diary posted by a caucus chair from a rural precinct in Texas:

I went to my precinct caucus. 52 people showed up. Considering that total voter turnout was about 250, that's pretty good, I'd say. No one really knew what was going on, so my prior review of the rules (and a copy in my hand) turned out to be pretty helpful. The poll workers were anxious to leave, so they opened the meeting and called for the election of a chair and left.

I was nominated to be chair (probably because I kept telling everyone what the rules are, but also, quite a few people there knew me). The meeting went very smoothly. We had 7 delegates to the county convention, and after the math was done, 5 went to Obama and 2 to Clinton. I'll now be joining the other Obama delegates at the county convention in a few weeks.

In what could be an important post-March 4th twist, Tom Brokaw says a source with the Obama campaign claims Barack has fifty superdelegates lined up and ready to endorse him. That would certainly be a significant development in the race. Hillary Clinton's campaign, in contrast, seems to be running out of gas.

Looking forward, it's also highly unlikely that Clinton can overtake Obama. She's just too far behind. Obama's February romp was the turning point. Running the math, even if Clinton won every single state voting today and was able to receive 55% of all the remaining delegates from the states that haven't held nominating events, she is still behind at the end by eight delegates.