• Lake county still has more to report, there are a couple precincts left in Marion and Monroe counties as well. FiveThirtyEight is projecting a Hillary win by 0.9% as of the latest update on the thread there. I was thinking 5% and 2-3 delegate win for Hillary so I will be thrilled by this.
• I’m predicting, based on nothing at all, a 1.5%, 1 delegate Hillary win. Maybe 2 delegates depending on how the CDs break down. Again, I’m thrilled with this considering that Obama kicked her ass in North Carolina and the end result is making up the popular vote ground from Pennsylvania and gaining even more ground in the pledged delegates (which, dear CNN, is what is really important)
• CNN needs to quit with the Lake County conspiracy mongering. I learned from a former state election director that Lake County is one of the counties that uses a consolidated county ballot counting system, rather than the precinct-by-precinct system used in most counties (and in Marion county). This, combined with the large number of absentee ballots (11,000+) is causing the late returns. not some anti-Hillary conspiracy.
• Sadly but not surprisingly, David Orentlicher did not win his bid for the nomination in the 7th CD. David O. would have instantly become one of the smartest congressmen in the country and a great progressive voice. I hope he gets back into the political ring soon (maybe run for Mayor if Indianapolis against Mayor Chinatowns in 2011? I would pay an admission fee to see a debate between those two).
• No one seems to be mentioning the insanely close race for the Democratic nominee to take on Governor Mitch “Mitchy Rich” Daniels. Jim Schellinger is the party approved, powers that be candidate. Jill Long Thompson is the ‘outsider.’ Currently (as of the latest results on wthr.com at 12:56am) Schellinger is up by 609 votes with 4967 of 5230 precincts reporting. So since when is the party approved, Dan Parker/Evan Bayh approved candidate eeking out a potential narrow victory an upset? When your state party chairman is the inept Evan Bayh toadie Dan Parker who can only get Schellinger’s name ID up to 50% in the weeks before the election. As much as I hate to agree with Bayh/Parker on anything, I hope Schellinger pulls this off. If I want to vote for a candidate who will pander with ridiculous gas tax holidays and engage in property tax demagoguery I’ll vote for a Republican.
• If anything came of tonight’s result in Indiana, its that Evan Bayh’s endorsement means very little when it comes to Obama vs. Hillary and that he will not get tapped as the VP. If Bayh can only deliver a tiny victory that is essentially a tie, he’s not the force among state Democrats that has been assumed by some. I am not shedding any tears over this.
• (as of 99.49% of Marion County precincts reporting) And finally, turnout was insane. 35.32% turnout of all registered voters in Marion County. Unfortunately the Indygov.org website does not list registered voters by party, but the GOP only got 45,667 ballots cast to the Dems’ 182,252. Turnout among Democrats HAS to have been well above the 50% of registered voters mark. This is awesome news for November.
• Finally finally, thanks to everyone who came out to Drinking Liberally. We had a really good crowd and it was a great time. Thanks also to Spencer and Dustin, who always treat us great at Spencer’s Stadium Tavern (802 S. West Street. Stop in and have a few beers. it’s a fantastic place)

Update:

• Looks like JLT pulled it out with the same white votes that came in for Hillary from Crown Point and such. As a friend of a friend said: “I blame Crown Point”.  JLT will get trounced by Daniels. There goes that opportunity. Heckuva job, Dan Parker.
• I still haven’t seen the delegate counts out of Indiana. Nothing official anyway. This is what matters, not the popular vote.  Will update here when I see it.
• Chris Bowers has the quote of the night:

So, please correct me if I am missing something, but if a shift of 4-5% and two or three delegates in Indiana and North Carolina is enough to end the Democratic nomination, then why didn’t anyone frakking tell us that the campaign was so close to ending? Why was there this massive kabuki theater pretending that it was still a close campaign where Clinton had a legitimate chance at winning? Why were Clinton’s attacks on Obama repeated again, and again, and again, without anyone mentioning that Clinton was a desperate candidate hanging by a thread who would probably say anything in order to stay afloat?

The reason is simple: the established media was never covering the Democratic nomination campaign. They were, instead, covering some form of kabuki theater where reality is ignored and liberals are ritually gutted on the public stage for the pleasure of elite, rich, white, male pundits who like to pretend they know what is in the mind of the “common man” or some other formulation that is equally rustic, offensive and laughable. That is all that we have been watching since the Wisconsin primary, since the delegates have not improved for Clinton since the Wisconsin primary (and have actually gotten much worse, if you include the supers). If we had been watching something else, then tonight would not be the end of the campaign, because nothing really changed tonight. If this is the end, then the last two and a half months have been a Clinton-fueled fairy tale, which is basically a white-hot lie about the nomination campaign. Puns intended in the previous sentence.

• Kim Brown won a Judge slot due to her name being at the top alphabetically, even though she wasn’t a slated candidate and most people don’t even pay attention to the judges anyway. Swell.

American Flag Lapel Pin is patriotism you can count on!!!

LapelPin08.com is the home of the most patriotic candidate in the race for the White House.

I’ll let Masson sum it up on a more coherent manner than I can:

I didn’t watch the ABC Debate. I hear the moderators were awful. The following topics apparently did not figure prominently:

The financial crisis
The collapse of housing values in the US and around the world
Afghanistan
Health care
Torture
The declining value of the US Dollar
Education
Trade
Pakistan
Energy
Immigration
The decline of American manufacturing
The Supreme Court
The burgeoning world food crisis.
Global warming
China
The attacks on organized labor and the working class
Terrorism and al Qaeda
Civil liberties and constraints on government surveillance

Flag pins, on the other hand, were deemed significant. Our media is just truly, truly horrible.

Our bullshit media is ruining this country. To steal a line from CJ, if you truly think that the question of a candidate wearing a lapel pin is more important than god damned policy you don’t deserve to vote.

More debate dumb-assery summaries:

• Charlie Gibson’s Cocktail Napkin Economics [Wonk Room]
  
• I just complained to ABC [Sadly, No!]
• Lee Atwater Lives!!! [dailyKos: DHinMI]
• Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Gaffes, Flag Pins and ’60s Radicals [Editor & Publisher]
• Gibson, Stephanapoulos outrage! [Philly.com]

That’s all I can write or even stand to read at this point before I have a stroke and/or get really stabbity.

When I saw a video of Hillary Clinton downing a shot of Crown Royal whiskey in Bronko’s Restaurant and Lounge in Crown Point, Ind., on Saturday night, I was delighted to see that she has finally learned what campaigning for president is all about.

Some potential ideas for Drinking Games to decide our president:

• Quarters: Hey there’s a president on the quarter. It seems perfect but will it resonate with the Real Americans or just college frat boys?
• Beer Pong: Ditto, but this is something I could see making Spike TV into our election coverage leader.
• Speed Drinking: This could be especially important in the primary as the last World Record Holder (before the category being dropped from the Guinness Book) was from Pennsylvania. Have Steven Petrosino officiate.
• SOTU Drinking Game: Candidates are forced to watch all of George W. Bush’s SOTU speeches and follow the drinking game rules for those speeches. Last candidate to pass out wins.
• Old School Drink Them Under The Table: Easy. The candidates all sit around a table and start drinking shots. Rotate the shots so that all parts of America feel “connected with”. Bourbon, whiskey, vodka, jello shots, the whole gamut. Last candidate standing is the Rootenist Tootenist Connectitiest With Real Americans President 2008!!!

Hillary Prepares for Drink Off To The White House 2008

Think about it – no annoying advertising. No canvassers at your door during dinner. No stupid talking heads. Just the candidates being like “Real Americans” and drowning their pain in alcohol – for the good of our nation. And all we have to worry about is the alcohol lobby and undue influence from foreign spirits.

Thank you Roger Simon. You’ve transformed our electoral process.