Thomas B. Edsall looks at the Michigan numbers and sees some troubling patterns for the Clinton campaign. Among them:
Clinton split the male vote with Mr. Uncommitted;
Clinton lost the black vote overwhelmingly to Mr. Uncommitted;
Clinton lost the under-30-years-old vote to Mr. Uncommitted;
And Clinton lost independents to Mr. Uncommitted.
Edsall concludes:
[T]he Michigan exit poll demonstrates the viability of the Clinton campaign strategy of winning solid majorities in states that, unlike Michigan and South Carolina, do not allow participation of either Republicans or independents in their 'closed' primaries, like the February 5 contests in New York, Connecticut, Colorado and Arizona. Many very large February 5 states, however, including California, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, have open primaries that will give Obama a chance to pull in independent voters.
Just to make things even more interesting, Edwards could win Nevada. And they say the GOP race is wide-open.
