Obama and McCain Sweep Potomac Primaries

Barack Obama has won both the Virginia and District of Columbia primaries this evening, while Maryland has extended voting hours until 9:30 Eastern time due to inclement weather.

Obama's margin of victory in Virginia figures to be imposing, with a 61%-38% advantage at this hour with 51% of precincts reporting. He also pulled 90% of the Virginia black vote.

He is projected to win the DC primary, but with no returns in yet.

The story in Virginia so far has been that the white male vote has gone to Obama, 55%-43%, according to exit polls. MSNBC's Chuck Taylor projects a 100 or so total pledged delegate lead for Obama coming out of Virginia. That's enough to overcome Hillary's Super-delegate lead, and then some.

Additionally, a sweep here for Obama will put the Clinton campaign in the unenviable position of making a stand on March 4, with so-called "Firewalls" in Texas and Ohio, a strategy that did not work out very well for Hillary's fellow New Yorker Rudy Giuliani.

Welcome to the new live blog. Park it here for more results from D.C., and the Maryland results at 9:30.Hillary didn't mention any of the Potomac Primary results in her speech.

4 minutes until Maryland closes.

RomneyGirl writes:

Great job on live election coverage. 4 some reason my post would not go through. I think the super delegates are going to play a role....IF Clinton gets Florida & Michigan seated & IF she holds Texas. It will be a dead heat then and close enough for super d's to put their hands in the cookie jar.

I agree, the Supers could come into it, but only if there's a popular vote vs. pledged delegate split. Otherwise, I don't see them bucking the electorate.

9:30 Maryland projected for Obama by a "significant margin." McCain also projected the victor in Md. by a significant margin. I don't see how Huckabee can stay in now.

9:35 Dave is calling it a sweep for McCain. Who am I to disagree?

9:40 Obama getting ready to speak. Rachel Maddow makes an excellent point, that Hillary can gain ground cleanly by scoring hits against McCain.

Barack is in Wisconsin, home of that delicious port wine cheese spread.

9:42 DC projected for McCain. Way to go, Dave! NBC guesstimates that there were 4,000 votes cast in the DC GOP primary. Still enough to beat Rudy Giuliani.

The "Whispering Obamican" bit is good. He's attacking the status quo now. Is "status" latin for "Hillary"?

That Obama map should look pretty scary to Hillary right now.

He's calling McCain a hero. But framing his policies as arcane, and tying him to Bush. He's making his case for November.

McCain's margin in Virginia is settling in at a more comfortable 49-42, with 89% reporting.

The bad news is, Obama is bringing McCain's switch on the Bush tax cuts home to roost.

76-23 is the margin for Obama in DC, with 49% reporting. 63-36 with 93% in Virginia. This lays to rest a lot of the talk earlier about Obama only being strong in caucus states.

9:56 McCain is now at 50 to Huck's 41% in Va. with 91% reporting. 67-17 in DC with 49% reporting. Huck isn't spending a lot on his campaign, but staying in past tonight might cost him a lot.

MSNBC seems to be using the cameraman from "Cloverfield."

10:06 Early returns from Maryland have Obama and McCain winning by wide margins, Obama 72% to Hillary's 26, and McCain 54% to Huck's31.

McCain is speaking now. "In a time of war, the promise of a brighter future is not always clear..." Wow. Where do I sign?

OK, I'm going to wrap it up now. To recap, Obama sweeps the Virginia, Maryland, and DC primaries by landslide margins, as Hillary Clinton kicked off her Texas campaign.

McCain swept, too, dodging a Hucka-bullet in Virginia by earning a comfortable victory there. In my view, the time for Huckabee to drop out is nigh. He should cash his chips in now before his waves die down to ripples. McCain has gone back to "Johnny B. Goode" from "Take a Chance on Me".

Hillary is going to have to fight hard against the headlines in the coming weeks, and it now seems that Texas and Ohio are must wins for Hillary.

So, dear readers, what are your thoughts?