THE POPULAR VOTE….Wow. The Democratic race tonight was really, really close. Among people who actually turned out to vote, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by about 49%-48%, according to CNN. However, if you look at the total state populations carried by each candidate, it works out just the opposite. There were 22 states in play with a total population of about 147 million, and with the final numbers in, Barack Obama won about 49% of that population vs. 47% for Hillary. (The exact numbers, of course, will depend on the final result in California. As I write this, it looks to me like it’s going to break about 54-44 for Hillary.) (California ended up 52-42 for Hillary.)
So what does this tell us? Nothing except that this was a really, really close race. The good news: Exciting! The bad news: Contrary to the storyline the talking heads have been feeding us, this hasn’t really been a very nasty race. But it might turn into one now. Fasten your seat belts.
