Networks Dismiss Hillary Landslide

After Hillary's speech, Chris Matthews said she was trying to set up a contest between her and the pundits, when it was really her versus the inexorable math. (Of course, Terry McAuliffe began the day on MSNBC by calling Chris Matthews "Barack Obama's campaign chairman.")

The only really negative analyses of Obama came during the dissection of exit polls, which showed barely a third of Clinton voters saying they would support Obama in November. Sean Hannity called the exit polls "devastating" for Obama.

By my count, Hillary has won five of the last six states. But it is, of course, too late. The pundits all agree on that.

NYT: "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won a lopsided victory over Senator Barack Obama in the Tuesday primary in West Virginia, where racial considerations emerged as an unusually salient factor.

"Mrs. Clinton drew strong support from white, working-class voters who have spurned Mr. Obama in recent contests. The number of white Democratic voters who said that race had influenced their choices on Tuesday was among the highest recorded in voter surveys in the nomination fight. Two in 10 white West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their votes. More than 8 in 10 backed Mrs. Clinton."

Boston Globe: "Even with her presidential hopes fading, Senator Hillary Clinton won a landslide victory in the West Virginia Democratic primary yesterday, renewing doubts about Senator Barack Obama's prospects in states with large concentrations of white, working-class voters."

LAT: "Initial exit poll results from West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary drive home the work Barack Obama still has to do to disassociate himself from his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"The Associated Press reports that 2 in 10 voters said they believe Obama shares Wright's views 'a lot,' while 3 in 10 said the candidate 'somewhat' embraces the preacher's opinions."

WSJ: "Hillary Clinton trounced Barack Obama in West Virginia's Democratic presidential primary, as expected. But her negligible payback in convention delegates illustrates why her rival and her party are turning away from her candidacy to begin the fight against Republican John McCain."

A Chicago Tribune blog has Hillary in denial:

"Welcome to the parallel universe.

"In this place, Hillary Clinton has as good a shot as ever to win the Democratic nomination, mathematics, delegate counts, and pundits be damned."