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Before we become consumed in the North Carolina and Indiana Primaries, I wanted to take a moment to mention the recent tragedy in Burma. 

As the AP is reporting,

The cyclone death toll soared above 22,000 on Tuesday and more than 41,000 others were missing as foreign countries mobilized to rush in aid after the country's deadliest storm on record, state radio reported.

Up to 1 million people may be homeless after Cyclone Nargis hit the Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma, early Saturday. Some villages have been almost totally eradicated and vast rice-growing areas are wiped out, the World Food Program said.

... This organization is providing much-needed disaster relief. 

Note:  This has special importance to us because two Townhaller's -- Chris Bower and Matt Bower -- grew up in the church sponsoring this relief effort.  Their mom is very active in this very effort, and may go to Burma to help.

Please do whatever you can to help the victims of this devastating cyclone.  Your tax deductable donation to support the victims of this disaster would be greatly appreciated by this group of committed volunteers.

State elections director Gary Bartlett said turnout was "steady ... not tremendously heavy." The presidential nomination seemed to overshadow primaries for governor, Senate and statewide office.

About three-quarters of the 9,000 people who turned up to see Barack Obama at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday evening were black. Yet, the section of seating directly behind where he spoke was filled overwhelmingly by whites.

The Obama campaign would not say how seats were allocated but it appeared as though a conscious decision had been made to ensure that television pictures showed the senator against a backdrop of white faces.

Rep. Whip Roy Blunt just put out a press release talking up the Republcian Housing proposals in comparison to what the Dems have on the floor.

But check out this little piece of information at the end of the release:

“NOTE: Embedded in the text of the Democrats’ housing legislation is an order that would divert $35 million of taxpayer resources to “legal organizations with experience in foreclosure law” – that is, trial lawyers. The creation of that slush fund comes on top of another curious section of the bill, directing the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make a grant to the Raza Development Fund -- an account associated with the National Council of La Raza, a left-leaning advocacy firm.” 

Bill Clinton evoked the Comeback Kid of old Monday, urging the people of North Carolina to carry his wife to a surprising win on Tuesday. His manner, the crowds he’s pulled, and the sheer number of his stops suggests Clinton may have, at long last, become the asset he was meant to be on the trail—tireless, cheery and charming in the face of substantial odds. Indeed, 49 stops in N.C. without saying something counterproductive and off-message is an accomplishment in itself for the politician formerly known as a master communicator.

He stopped in Sanford, a Sandhills town that hadn’t seen a president since Truman. He stopped in Roxboro, where he reportedly spoke to 2,000 in a town of only 9,000. They are the places where Hillary’s base lives, in Appalachia and along the so-called “Poverty Belt” of southern North Carolina where mill closings and hard times make Hillary’s bread-and-butter message more palpable than Obama’s lofty rhetoric.

For his part, Obama hasn’t ventured west of Hickory, just an hour northwest of Charlotte, where Obama’s big-city voters dwell in droves. Bill also stands in stark contrast to Obama’s closest surrogate, Michelle, who spoke extensively in Fayetteville and Charlotte today without cracking a smile at either event. The local evening news showed Clinton’s preternatural, gee-golly glad-hand routine next to Michelle’s dour, stern-faced lectures about Obama’s greatness. The juxtaposition did the Obamas no favors.

What's a scenario where Clinton wins? Let's award her 65% of the white vote and 18 percent of the black vote, and let's assume that black turnout dips to about 29% of the electorate. Clinton wins here by a half a point.