[hytem]

To respond to a couple of things, I'm not sure about what Obama had on the ballot in the way of "delegate slots"--but I read that he had something. There must be info somewhere on that. Newsweek?

The Democrats have made their primaries needlessly complicated--even more than Republicans. McCain is clear cut because their big states won mostly by him were winner take all. Obama-Clinton is not clear cut because their big states apportioned delegates by vote percentage. This hurt Clinton because she has won most of the big states, and would be ahead by 200 delegates or so by the Republican system.

In Texas, Republicans crossed over to vote for Obama by 53-47% over Clinton--Clinton won Democrats by 54-46% (USA Today). Republicans are not voting for Clinton--they are voting against her--because they have lost to the Clintons twice. They fear the Clintons more than Obama. He is an unknown waiting to be defined. The Clintons are an open book.

Right now, Clinton looks like the stronger candidate, because Obama's constituency (the young, the rich and the black)are more likely to vote for Clinton than Clinton's constituency (women, white working class) will vote for Obama. That's what the polls are showing.

Obama has won a lot of Southern states because of the black vote. The majority of his votes in Mississippi were black voters. Trouble is, the Democrats aren't going to win most of those red states. They need to win the big industrial states, where Clinton seems to be stronger. That is a dilemma for the Democrats.