While all the results have yet to be tallied, Hillary Clinton has been declared the winner in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island, with Obama only taking Vermont.

Ideally, at this point, the Democratic Party should acknowledge that Clinton has won just about every primary in traditionally blue states - and in those that could well be battleground states: Ohio, Texas, Nevada, if we’re counting them, Michigan and Florida, and what many are now predicting will be a battleground state this year, California. She’ll most likely take Pennsylvania, as well. Obama, on the other hand, has been doing well in states that are almost certain to go to the Republican candidate.

The DNC should also acknowledge that Clinton has got more votes from Democrats than Obama has. If one excludes the votes of Republicans and independents, Obama has taken almost no states at all - except unsurprisingly, his home state of Illinois (which would easily go for Clinton were she the candidate). They should also start realizing that Obama’s ability to get votes from Republicans in open primaries says nothing on God’s earth about how electible he is. Those were principally votes against Clinton to keep her off the ticket - and they are almost certain to go to the Republican candidate in the general election, regardless of who the Democrat is.

In short, Democrats should start recognizing that Obama can’t win and that it is he who is dividing the party.

But they won’t. Far too many have invested far too much in the myth of this phantom “coalition”. Far too many are subscribing to the fantasy that America is now, officially, colorblind and that the millions of our citizens who wouldn’t piss on a black man if he were on fire are now going to vote for one. Far too many are sooooo pleased with themselves for supporting a candidate who is sooooo cool, despite the fact that he has virtually no experience (especially in foreign policy, defense issues, or the economy), nothing to show for his Senate career except reams of missed votes (not unlike his record in Illinois), and no policies that distinguish him from the more capable and electible candidate. Far too many of them believe - setting a new bar for naiveté - that the Republican Noise Machine is going to roll over and play dead, that there will be no 527s out to destroy Obama at all costs, that the mainstream media is going to join hands and celebrate Citizen Obama the way two talking heads on MSNBC and two op-ed pundits at the New York Times are. Far too many of them are confusing a national election with American Idol and assume that the popularity of Obama among within their peer group means he’s already won. Guess again.

On the other hand, I don’t think the ongoing campaign is a bad thing at all, contrary to the wishes of the punditocracy. I’m afraid I find myself agreeing with James Wolcott (and hardly for the first time):

I’m unaccustomed to approving the testimony of John Podhoretz, newly crowned boy-king of Commentary, but his reading of the media elite’s perverse eagerness to pull the plug on the Democratic primary battle strikes me as unassailable:

Journalists love a good story, right? Just love one. Love the competition. Love a good race, especially in politics. Yes, there’s nothing like conflict–that’s the bread and butter of modern-day journalism. What media bias?

The last month disproves this fantasy. The relentless hunger of the mainstream media to run Hillary Clinton out of the race is palpable–even though there exists a real possibility of a battle that will continue all the way to the Democratic convention in August. What’s more, this battle is generating excitement and ratings, with MSNBC crowing about the 8 million plus viewers it got for last week’s Obama-Clinton debate. That’s ten to fifteen times its ordinary rating on a weekday night.

The great story would be - Hillary stays in. She’s tough. Obama feels the heat. Neither one of them has it nailed down. The superdelegates are up for grabs. It’s a fight for every last superdelegate.

But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, you will see, tomorrow and for the rest of the week, no matter what happens tonight, a constant drumbeat that Hillary must drop out. Politicians will be sought to deliver this message. Talking heads will talk themselves hoarse on MSNBC and others. Op-eds will be drafted on the nobility Hillary will show by giving way to Obama. And so on.

MSNBC is indeed the home of thwarted hopes tonight as Clinton’s Ohio victory ensures another leg of battle. Their Decision ‘08 headquarters is a brightly lit study in dyspepsia. Chris Matthews, sitting with his arms irritably crossed, and Keith Olbermann look like the gold and silver medal winners in a lemon-sucking contest, with the Newsweek’s dependable Howard Fineman settling for the bronze. Only Tom Brokaw, his wry Olympian perspective still intact from his distinguished tenure in the anchor chair of NBC News, seems willing to let this contest unfold at its own pace and drama until the final shot lands in the cup. I agree with Tom Watson that a Democratic duel that goes all the way to the convention is a healthy development, not a death march:

A Hillary-Barack race that goes to the convention is a bonanza not just for the media sales departments (who will be rooting against their Obama-worshipping colleagues in the newsroom) but for the Democratic Party and for the progressive cause. The fickle, often-bored electorate is excited about this race–why go dark for several months? Further, why give McCain and the Republicans equal time?

Then again, I’m also sympathetic to those whose nerves are wrung out and just want this thing over, the way they want Bush’s presidency to come to its miserable conclusion so that this oppressive weight will no longer be hanging over our heads. But it’s not nearly as exhausting a marathon for us as it is for the candidates, their families, and their staffs, and if they can tough it out to the finish, who are we to whine?

Who, indeed? Tom Watson makes another couple of good points:

An ongoing Clinton-Obama race also sharpens the issues and the candidates. I say: make ‘em defend their positions, and make ‘em hang left - not tack to the right, as Obama has started to do once he became convinced this nomination was in the bag.Finally, keeping hope alive in Clinton land means keeping my hopes alive for the best possible Democratic ticket featuring the best two candidates of this long, long cycle.

Hell yeah. I’ve said before that the Democratic nomination going all the way to the convention is about the best thing that could happen to the party this year. Nothing has changed my mind.