North Carolina and Indiana Primaries-OPEN THREAD DISCUSSION
by Erin Kotecki Vest

Poll workers are reporting heavy turnout in Indiana and North Carolina and according to CNN, polling officials at one Indianapolis precinct said that they almost matched the record for an entire day after just 4 hours.

187 delegates are at stake with Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continuing their battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. Senator Obama has called today's race in Indiana a potential 'tiebreaker' while Senator Clinton calls today a 'game changer.'

A sticking issue in the tightly race to emerge after two weeks of campaigning: Senator Clinton's planto repeal the federal gas tax. Clinton is touting the plan as some 'immediate relief' to high gas costs while Obama has called the plan a sham and pure 'pandering' for votes.

Jennifer Donahue writes at the Huffington Post, "Whether you believe Senator Clinton is pandering or playing politics by suggesting a gas tax holiday for the summer, she is playing the table with the criteria that historically matters most."

In the Pink Texas weighs in on the close race and how things may pan out today, "Most likely scenario? Hillary wins Indiana by a good margin, Obama takes North Carolina by a tighter margin than polls have suggested. This means nothing changes. Or, Hillary wins Indiana and narrowly takes North Carolina, which changes everything.

YES, I know that Obama has the delegates. But the superdelegates are picking this nominee, whichever way you look at it, and if Hillary were to win both states (however doubtful), they’ll start getting real nervous about Obama in a general. And it would be more of an incentive to unleash the NUCLEAR OPTION and seat Florida and Michigan.

Now, if Obama wins Indiana and North Carolina, game over. But that probably won’t happen either. So we’ll be right back here tomorrow, suspended in time and space. You may find this hard to believe, but even I can’t bear to watch much longer."

Tiffany Taylor jokes her vote in Indiana this morning affected the rest of her day, "So I was at the grocery store a little while ago, and when I came out, my car refused to start. It won’t even try to turn over — just makes little clicking noises. And this is a 2007 Saturn Vue, still under warranty. My husband had to leave school to come get me. Later today I have to get it towed hell and gone out to the dealership on the other side of the world.

Just before I went to the store, I cast my vote for Obama in the Indiana primary. Now my car is dead.

Coincidence? Hmmm…"

 

Arsepoetica tells us via Twitter, "I love my polling place. So happy to see it buzzing, filled w/ smiling faces. The old folks near me come out in droves. Yaay!" She also shares a photo "Votin', y'all!"

Pam's House Blend has teamed up with BlueNC for joint coverage tonight starting at 7pm Eastern.

Here at BlogHer you can leave you links in the 'Mr. Linky' widget below and discuss the day's events as they unfold in the comments of this post.

Don't forget to add your name and blog URL to BlogHer's Guide to Political Bloggers where you can search by state, first and last name, and political party.


Comments

 

Voting here in Indiana

I got up bright and early this morning and hit the polls right after I dropped off the kids at school.  It was 7:30 and already 51 voters had been there.  I had lunch later with some girlfriends and they were either on their way to vote or already had.  This election has brought out the voters in droves in Indiana, or at least the area I live in.  It feels great to finally be a deciding vote in the election.  Normally by know the canidates have been chosen and our votes are meerly window dressing.  I hope that the other voters in Indiana and North Carolina make their voices heard and vote.

 

 

Jess Mom to Thing 1 and Thing 2 CEO of Knight INC.

 

MOMocrats Will be Live Blogging the Returns
tonight

Join the MOMocrats tonight for lively discussion of tonight's returns.

They will be holding forth at 5:00 PST/8:00 EST over at Cover It Live. Sign up for your account now so you can be part of this:

http://www.coveritlive.com

 

Indiana is starting to report early poll
closing #'s

1% report 61% Clinton 39% Obama
according to MSNBC

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

 

I heartily believe Wright coverage mania
plays into Indiana

Where Clinton is up by a lot. From Politico, on a new Pew Study:

Last week he "generated more news than both Hillary Clinton and John McCain," according to a new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

In the week of April 28 to May 4, Clinton appeared as a significant or
dominant newsmaker in 41 percent of the campaign press, with McCain at
just 14 percent. However the Wright/ Obama relationship alone factored
into 42 percent of stories.

Will statistics like this cause more media figures to pause before
beating the Wright issue to death, as Tim Russert did Sunday with his first 11 questions
on "Meet the Press" relating to the candidate's former pastor.Or
perhaps others will follow CNN's John Roberts, who declared a "Rev.
Wright-free zone" in his recent interview with Obama.

 

 

10% reproting in Indiana

10% in Indiana 58% Clinton 42% Obama -too early to call according to MSNBC

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

 

MSNBC calls North Carolina Race for Obama

...as polls closed they called it. Waiting on Margins Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

 

Nuns turned away from polls

PunditMom warned us and today 12 nuns were turned away from voting because they lack photo ID, do not drive, several are in wheelchairs and getting an ID would be a hardship in the short window allowed.

ConsumerPop Marketing
PopConsumer (Politics, Current Events & Links)
Beyond Help (Music, TV & Pop Culture)

 

They seriously need to quit with percentages

I'm hearing that CBS has called Indiana for Clinton.  With a 50,000 vote spread, I think that's a mistake.  AND...without the major urban votes in there.  CBS may find themselves hosed over that.  Or not.

 

Just thinking about Missouri. 

 

karoli (odd time signatures)

 

Indiana still too close to call?

Various media outlets have yet to project a winner in Indiana.

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

 

Various Media outlets calling Indiana for
Clinton

By a VERY narrow margin

Politics & News Contributing Editor
Queen of Spain

 

Here are links to last night's victory
speeches...

Here are links to last night's victory speeches...

Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan at catherine-morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election Blog