For those of you who stopped reading after Sorcerer's Stone because the series seemed too childish: it you keep going and make it through Year 3, you won't be disappointed.
I promised some politics today, so here it goes. My predictions for tomorrow are as follows: Texas will be too close to be of any significance to either candidate, while Hillary will cash in with a 5%-10% win in Ohio. Obama will win Vermont by a 20-pt margin, and Clinton will hold on to take Rhode Island. At the end of the day, however, nothing will be solved. Just like with Super Tuesday I, the unofficial second major contest will not change the tide in any way, shape, or form. The Clinton camp will exaggerate her wins and use them to claim yet another NH-style comeback, while the Obama side will highlight the fact that she still managed to blow massive leads in the polls over the course of a few weeks. And with that, both campaigns will look ahead to Pennsylvania next month.
...Of course, the polls could be entirely off the mark and eiter candidate could come out with a significant win. If this happens to Obama, then Hillary will be under party and electorate pressure to drop out. But if she ends up being a big winner, I don't see Obama budging; he can cite national polls to say that, regardless of voters in TX and OH, most Democrats would prefer to have him in the White House.
What's the moral of my predictions? Don't expect to see anything significant happen unless Obama wins it all.
EDIT: I just found this AP article on delegate math--
There are 370 Democratic delegates at stake in four states, but the party's system of awarding delegates proportionally will make it tough for either candidate to post big gains.
The biggest prize is Texas, with 193 delegates, where the Democrats will have a primary and a caucus.
The primary will determine 126 delegates, based on voting in 31 individual state Senate districts. The caucuses will determine 67 delegates. They will be awarded based on the statewide results of the caucuses, which will be held after the primary polls close.
The two-step system increases the possibility that the primary winner might not win the most delegates to the party's national convention this summer.
Ohio will have 141 Democratic delegates available, with 92 based on voting in 18 congressional districts, and 49 based on statewide results. Late returns in some areas, particularly Cuyahoga County in northeast Ohio, could delay the awarding of some delegates.
Rhode Island will have 21 Democratic delegates at stake and Vermont 15.
