Well, Hillary's stance on the war and on (of all things) video game violence has pretty much polarized me. And yes, the Republicans are sure to try to slime Obama. But with Hillary they've got a fantastic head start.

I agree on all counts. Obama '08!

One correction -- pretty sure it's Caroline Kennedy, not Carolyn.

I saw tht video this morning and it made me feel old and out of touch. Scarlet Johanson was about the only one I recognized ("Hey, wassn't she the youngster in that Bill Murray movie").

MEL - one interesting thing for me. In 20 years of voting, during which I've voted at every level, in every election (primary or general), my vote has never really mattered, not even in terms of a referendum. I see value in the civic duty argument, and more broadly, in the idea that the populace is governed by representatives that most of us bothered to vote on (if not for), although the "most" of has continued to dwindle over time as people seem to struggle to find reasons to bother to vote. Well, today was the first election in my 20 years where my vote actually matters, and I was strangely exhilarated by that. Like you, I'm an Obama guy, but it appeals to me to think that a Clinton, McCain, or Romney supporter could also see their vote as meaningful today in a bunch of states. A good day for democracy, in a country that pays plenty of lip service, but does not take the process seriously enough to reform the voting system to make it more meaningful for more voters on a more regular basis. Today, even if by luck, we will be heard, one way or another, and to me that's pretty cool.

Have you ever voted before where your vote actually mattered (or to be more precise, could have potentially made a difference based on the competivie nature of the race and timing of your vote)?

Trip -- fixed her name, thanks.

Gazoo -- Apart from local elections (mayor, etc), I can't think of when my vote actually "counted" in those terms. We stopped being Pennsylvania residents when it really mattered....

I much prefer Obama to Hillary as well, even though I loathe what he's said re: foreign policy, and for pretty much the same reason as you, MEL. A President should be charismatic and inspirational. Bill Clinton at least got half of that formula right. Barack should be able to do at least as well.

I'm thinking I'll end up voting for him in the general election - I think Hillary is toast - and hoping that the Real World keeps him from doing anything Carter-esque. (Or Nixon-esque; his vagueness on what to do about Iraq reminds me too much of Nixon's "secret plan" for Viet Nam.)

Idaho for Obama.

Report from Boise: Obama brought a crowd of nearly 15,000 to Boise State University's Taco Bell Arena on Saturday; even with unusually icy roads, people were lining up at 5am and waited later than 9am so further space could be made for standing room capacity. And there were still people stuck at the doors because we couldn't pack 'em all in.

Yesterday we voted for him 80% in the state, 86% in Ada County (where Boise is located).

Idaho has spoken. We're pretty excited.

(And I hadn't really thought of this, but apparently it's good for our image, too: Popkey: Idaho counters racist image with strong Obama support)

I was surprised to see Obama win so handily in Northern Idaho, given it's reputation, until I looked at the details:

In Shoshone county, Obama got 57% of ... 82 votes.
In Boundary County he got 73% of ... 145 votes.

His victory in Boise, 86% of 8,290 votes, is a lot more impressive. But even this does look like a case where every vote was literally counting. Hillary got 912 votes in Ada county, that's it. (Obama got 7,130 by comparison)

I guess there weren't that many registered democrats voting in the democratic primary in ID. It's a good thing to tell people when you're trying to get people to vote - no really ma'am or sir, your vote really really does count here in Idaho.

Whoops - the numbers for Boise don't quite add up. But you get the idea.