Tuesday, February 12

Prognosticating the Potomac Primaries

With Barack Obama and John McCain expected to take the three primaries today in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee can score points by beating expectations.

Rasmussen Markets data shows that Obama is given better than a 95% chance of winning the Primaries in both Maryland and Virginia (current pricing for Obama to win: Virginia 97.5% Maryland 98.9%). Rasmussen Reports shows Obama with a 26-point lead in Maryland and an 18-point lead in Virginia.

As of a poll taken on 2/8-2/9 by Rasmussen:

  • Maryland: Obama leads Clinton 53 percent to 36 percent when you combine strongly decided and leaning voters. It projects Obama winning 38 delegates, Clinton 26 and 6 being too close to call. Margin of error is 1.75 percent.
  • Virginia: Obama leads 51 percent to 34 percent among strong and leaning voters. Margin of error is 1.48 percent. The poll projects Obama winning 45 delegates to Clinton's 32 with 6 too close to call.
  • District of Columbia: Obama leads 63 percent to 27 percent, with the margin of error 2.82 percent. Obama wins 10 delegates to Clinton's 4, with 1 too close to call.

On the Republican side, McCain is given a better than 90% chance of winning in both Maryland and Virginia (current pricing for McCain to win: Virginia 86.1% Maryland 95.9%). The biggest prize is Virginia, which offers 63 delegates on a winner-take-all basis.

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