Obama Slams Home Three Big Victories; McCain Wins Narrowly

This morning we're sharing some of our favorite stories about the Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia primaries, but first -- CONGRATULATIONS VOTERS! No matter who you voted for, you turned out in record breaking number on an icky, rainy, icy day and night and over all, our democracy was the winner.

In the Democratic race, Barack Obama won every single demographic group of voters, including the majority of white men and women, Hispanics and African-Americans. The only exception to this winning streak was one tiny demographic group found in Maryland -- the over $200,000 income voters, a group that generally doesn't vote for Democrats only. Walter Shapiro writes in detail in Salon about the broad scope of the Obama win: "Obama's Surge Extends Down the Potomac."

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is nothing if not determined, and Potomac's election night found her in El Paso with a cheering crowd and a reshuffled campaign. Last night's results, which gave Hillary her eighth straight loss, and reduced her delegate count so much that it made Hillary in to the "running second" category, was not to be seen in El Paso. Peter Canellos writes today in the Boston Globe that the "Race Tests Moralle, Traditional Wisdom."

And poor John McCain. He barely squeaked by Governor Huckabee, but his narrow win was enough to move him forward as the inevitable Republican nominee. We pause here to reflect ... isn't it at least a little bit amazing that both Governor Romnee and Mayor Guiliani have taken themselves out of the race? Who would have thought? Dana Milbank gives an overview in his Washington Post story, "The Decisive Winner, By a Nose." There is also a Gallery of campaign pictures to the right of the story, too -- very fun to look at!

Meanwhile, there is much more coverage. These stories begin with Obama buying doughnuts for his very cold election volunteers, continue with coverage of his "thank you" speech in Wisconsin, the next stop in the few remaining primaries left before we learn who the winning nominees are. Also included is coverage of the remaining challenges faced by the few candidates still fighting to be the Democratic and Republican nominees.

Barack Obama:

• Obama Inspires Crowd at Packed Kohl Center Rally, Wisconsin State Journal
• Obama Rides Momentum into Wisconsin, USATODAY
• Halperin's Take: Sixteen Underappreciated Obama Advantages, TIME Magazine
• Obama's Friends in Unlikely Places, Stateline.org
  

Hillary Clinton:

• Clinton Kicks Off Texas Efforts, NBC News
• Clinton Plays Election Roulette, The Politico
• Inside the Clinton Shake-Up -- how Hillary's Campaign Got Itself into a Ditch, and how it might get itself out, The Atlantic Monthly

John McCain andMike Huckabee:

• McCain Gets Wins, Not Mandate, Washington Times
• Assessing the GOP's Chances, Wall Street Journal
• Huckabee Again Shows Strength on the Right, Washington Post