So it looks like the whole Democratic primary race is only getting tighter. Hillary Clinton wins Ohio and Rhode Island. Barack Obama wins Vermont. Texas up for grabs.
As I made the rounds to parties for each of the Democratic candidates tonight, there was some talk of the need to decide this thing soon so the party can get on with healing before the general election.
House Speaker Gaye Symington, a Clinton supporter, said it was odd to have a different sign on her lawn than her neighbor has. She's used to being on the same ideological side as her neighbor.
"I think we would all like to unite," Symington said.
Of course, neither side wants their candidate to be the one to give in, but at 7:30 p.m. with the Vermont results in and the other states still pending it seemed like Clinton would be the one. A few hours later, that's changed.
Other tidbits from the day:
- Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, didn't vote in the primary. he apparently voted on local Burlington issues, but stayed neutral as he has pledged to do, on the presidential primary.
- Sen. Patrick Leahy told the Vermont Obama crowd that if the Illinois senator is elected president, they can be sure he will visit Vermont, unlike the current president. If Clinton wins, will she visit Vermont?
- Some of the people I'm related to in Texas indicated that the caucuses there were heavily for Obama. I'm not related to a wide enough sample to tell you what that means for the overall results.
- Former Gov. Madeleine Kunin, who supports Clinton, said Clinton's vote for the war in Iraq is the one issue that bothers her about the former first lady. "It did bother me," Kunin said, but the issue now is getting out of Iraq and she believes Clinton is serious about that.
- UVM political science professor Garrison Nelson said if this race goes to Pennsylvania's April 22 primary, Obama has the edge there. Clinton never thought it would come to Pa.
- Terri Hallenbeck