SAN JOSE, CA–The Obama war room here is packing up and shutting down. With 31 percent of ballots counted in Santa Clara County, Clinton leads Obama 57 to 35 percent. Assuming the spread holds (and it might not), this is a blow to the Obama campaign. This district was supposed to be competitive–a place where Obama might cut into Clinton’s lead among Hispanics. To some extent, he has. A few weeks ago Clinton was winning Hispanic votes by a 3-to-1 margin; exit polls tonight show the gap narrowing to roughly 2 to 1. But they also show Latinos comprising 29 percent of the Democratic electorate–a whopping 50 percent increase since the primaries of 2006. This may well be the story of the night. With the results incomplete and the campaigns heading home, though, it’s still hard to say. “If you give me a call tomorrow,” Obama volunteer Peter Allen told me as he downed his last beer of the night, “I’ll probably be able to give you a better and more sober assessment.” And so it goes as well for the press.
