Blogging Super Tuesday -- Return Here for Updates All Day!

By: Greg Mitchell The big day -- the Super day -- has finally arrived, and we're not talking about the Super Bowl (which should delight certain people in New England this week).

In more than 20 states, people are already trooping to the polls. The GOP and Democratic primary fights have become so hot that two of the three oldline TV networks, ABC and CBS, suddenly decided to do wall-to-wall primetime coverage tonight -- and NBC was always on board with that via MSNBC.

Fox News will introduce a new commentator: Karl Rove.

E&P has covered the events and buildup every day for the past couple of months and I have blogged the key primaries and debates. So here we will be blogging Super Tuesday, with the latest entries at the top. We'll cover the latest polls and speculation and controversies in this thread during the day, and then the results and the coverage tonight in a separate posting here at E&P, so return often.

To comment or read more, go to blog.
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6:40 PM: Okay, this is the last post here -- check out the new thread on this site at the top.

First exit polls are out on voter atttudes. Nothing surprising at all from AP. Men outnumber women on the GOP side and the reverse on the Dems' side. Hillary's backers say experience is vital, Obama's people want change. Iraq hardly registers as an issue for the Republicans -- but is right behind the economy for the Dems. Ho-hum.

I am outta here. Check out the new thread now.

5:30 PM: Okay, I am back. Not much new. Hillary seems to have accepted a Fox News debate down the road -- putting pressure on Obama.

Not much credible word on turnout so far. Overcast and threatening in New York City area, but not raining right now and not too cold....

Romney campaign blasts McCain/Huckabee deal that cost him a win in W. Virginia today: "Unfortunately, this is what Senator McCain?s inside Washington ways look like: He cut a back room deal with the tax-and-spend candidate he thought could best stop Governor Romney?s campaign of conservative change.?
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3:40 PM: The rout is on? Obama gets 75% -- of the 100 expatriate votes in Indonesia, as officials report. I wouldn't count on any delegates out of that...

So long for now. Heading home, will resume in a couple of hours. Will return here and then start another thread then....for the duration...

3:10 PM: Huckabee wins the little-noticed first round of West Virginia caucus -- after McCain throws some votes his way to deny Romney a win.

Drudge is highlighting snafu in L.A. -- voting machines not delivered in many places.

My twist on the "expectations game" -- I expect to be up until 3 a.m.
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2:30 PM: Latest Gallup Poll daily tracking poll shows Clinton opening up a 5% lead nationally on Obama. Late surge? Or, more likely, meaningless? As they say it is "a race for delegates."

Conservatives not blunting their McCain critique on this fateful day. James Dobson latest to say he will never ever vote for him. Rush and Ann Coulter and others standing ground, hoping for Romney miracle. It will indeed be fascinating to see what is the real GOP "base" these days -- and if the power of talk radio has waned.

The reliable Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post's site has a good walk through of what to look for tonight hour-by-hour at:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix

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1:20 PM: The newspaper blogs are up and running for the big day so get thee to a leading site for latest details.

In a symbol of the too-long campaign, Hillary had to cut short an interview this morning with a California TV station -- she was in New York -- due to a wicked coughing fit. It's up on YouTube or at my blog if you care, but I've never seen anything quite like it. It will be a wonder if any of the candidates survive tonight -- I mean physically, not politically.

12:20 PM: Weather or not? Unusually widespread bad weather across much of country -- rain here, snow there -- could hurt turnout. Some of it not hitting until evening, but since this is no holiday, there will be a lot of late voting ... or would-be voting. As we know, it doesn't take much to discourage the American voter from making it to the polls ...

11:55 AM: Well, that settles it for me. Gossip King/Queen Perez Hilton has endorsed Hillary, saying, "We watched the debates and Clinton just won us over. Barack is great. But Hillary is the better leader, for us.? On a somewhat weightier note, as it were, Jack Nicholson is making "robo-calls" for Clinton in California today.

A big real or forced McCain blowup today over Romney suggesting on TV that the party is headed for another "Dole" disaster (landslide defeat) if it picks McCain. He demands an apology from Mitt. This was inspired by Dole hitting GOP sage Rush Limbaugh yesterday for turning so violently against McCain.

11:15 AM: In other celebrity news, John "Formerly Cougar" Mellencamp has asked John McCain to stop using any of his songs at campaign rallies. George Clooney has reiterated his support for Obama, while Michael Moore says says he is still on the fence (thanks to reader Dave Horchak for pointing out that it would have to be a hell of a sturdy fence).

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine suffered a voting snafu this morning but eventually got to cast his ballot. With so many states voting today there are bound to be voting mishaps galore. Thank God there are at least seven states that merely host caucuses tonight.

10:50 AM: Polls in the key state of California are all over the place. Zogby is now predicting an Obama landslide, while SurveyUSA shows Clinton with an easy win. One wonders if the issue is: A tremendous number of people out there voted by mail-in weeks ago when Clinton was riding high. It's possible that Obama will indeed win easily with today's voters but lose because of the early Hillary vote. This will be truly one to watch.
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To comment or read more, go to E&P Editor Greg Mitchell's blog.