Colorado just posted some numbers - HRC +6

As of 6:42 pm we have three undecided states:

Colorado: HRC +6
Mass: HRC +5
Minnesota hasn't announced any numbers

Called states:
HRC: AL (HRC +61), AR (HRC +45), GA (HRC +45), TN (HRC +31), TX (HRC +37), VA (HRC +30)
BS: OK (BS +12), VT (BS +74)

Alabama is the REAL prize of the night for Hillary

It's one of the smallest delegate count states...but it broke (according to the New York Times) 82-14...which is within five percent of Bernie numbers in Vermont.

NBC's "four issues" show Bernie's biggest problem

This is the result of NBC's polling of the South Carolina primary: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/primaries/SC

What I'd like you to do is to go there and scroll down to the question, "which one of these four issues is the most important facing the country?" They give four choices: health care, jobs and economy, terrorism, income inequality. Of the four, three - all but terrorism - are Bernie's platform in a nutshell. Respondents were to pick one issue, then choose the candidate he or she felt would be best at dealing with it.

After the first three primaries, terrorism didn't get any responses; since terror is largely a coastal concern and this was the first coastal-state primary, I can understand that. But of the other three, until Saturday Hillary was seen as the best choice on health care and on the economy, and Bernie on income inequality. In South Carolina, Hillary also picked up the nod on income inequality.

In other words, Bernie has lost control of his message - when all you have are three planks in your platform and your opponent bests you on all of them, you have an insurmountable problem.

Just so there's no confusion here...

The spouse of a female head of state is "First Gentleman."

This is what they look like:

Bernt!

I would have been happy with just a little more margin than Sanders got in NH

It is 4:40 pm Pacific time. NBC is claiming a 56 percent Clinton victory margin.

Damn.

How the GOP can throw the presidential election, and why they'd want to

First, this is all personal conjecture based on my long study of American politics rather than reposting of other people's personal conjecture based on their long study of American politics. Ask for no links because there are none to provide.

It might be best to work backwards. The biggest reason for the GOP to throw the 2016 election is their frontrunner, who would be a disaster for the Republican brand. They know most of the electorate won't vote for Donald Trump, and a lot of them would stay home. At the same time, a Trump general election candidacy would guarantee loss of control of definitely the Senate and probably the House...because Democrats WOULD come out - in DROVES - to vote against the man General George Patton would have described as a "paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch." They also understand a Hillary Clinton presidency wouldn't be an awful thing, and a Sanders presidency wouldn't fuck up the world because only a Congress with a death wish would send him the program he seeks. Either one would drive RNC fundraising and extend the "Obama's Gonna Take Away Your Guns Any Second Now Sale" for another four to eight years. So it's all good.

The GOP also likes long-range planning, so for them a Sanders presidency would be slightly better than a Clinton presidency: a lot of Bernie's friends are going to walk on him when it becomes obvious not even the Democrats in Congress will allow him to accomplish anything he wants to do. A president neutered by his own party plus ten focus-group-tested legislative initiatives, and it's 1994 all over again. Unfortunately for the GOP, they won't be facing Bernie Sanders in November.

In the final calculus, the GOP can live with a Clinton presidency or a Sanders presidency but not with a Trump presidency.

In order to hold Congress in the face of otherwise would be a rout of historic proportions - even the finest gerrymander is worthless if the people you need to vote for your candidates decide to go fishing or hit the sales on Election Day instead - the only solution is to run an independent candidate and split the conservative presidential vote. This still brings the conservatives to the polls so they can vote for congressmen and senators, and it keeps Trump out of the Oval Office. I can think of three people who would work. One is Romney. He's spray-tanned, rested and ready. Colin Powell is the second - he helped start the Iraq War but if he throws the whole Bush maladministration under the bus he should be alright. The third is someone you never heard of before: Peter Schoomaker, who was called out of retirement to serve as the Army's top general.

Iron Maiden launches new world tour...with the biggest Ed Force One yet!

So...what are the snacks like in the big house, Ammon?

Oh lawd...the Bernie supporters want the NV caucus results overturned