Waiting for the Numbers

I'm sitting here at the Hotel Ft. Des Moines in Des Moines, the site of Hillary Clinton's party. By the numbers, it's way too early to say whether this will be a victory party. In the past two weeks or so, especially the past week, it seems Clinton's people are trying to lower expectations.

Clinton's side clearly wants a victory. But it feels like it would still count a victory (with a small "v" in that victory) if Clinton beats Obama, even if that means Edwards takes first place here.

Not sure what this means for sure, but this room where the Senator is supposed to speak isn't anywhere as big as the one Obama booked for tonight. It's obviously a lot easier to make a smaller room look crowded.

I'm getting calls from friends that turnout is really high. If that's the case (unless the bulk of this turnout is women over 50) this may not add up well for Clinton.