The Best of All Possible Worlds

What's the best the Republicans can hope for? Very, very close races between Hillary and Barack in both Ohio and Texas -- with Hillary eking out at least one victory, as it looks like she well might do in the former state. The upshot is that she needs is enough of a win both to quell the critics who will otherwise be urging the fat lady to warm up for a vocal, and to offer quasi-credible talking points when people point out that her husband said she needed to win both states in order to be viable.

Another key statistic will be how many of the "late deciders" in Texas and Ohio break for Clinton. That will be key in shaping her decision about how negative to go. In other words, if the late deciders break for her, it will validate the campaign's decision in recent days to go after Barack hammer and tongs -- and guarantees we'll see more of the same over the next six weeks.

Pull up a chair, pop up the corn. This is going to be good.