And even more remarkable how one is influenced by this psychology.

It’s ten o’clock and 80% of the votes are counted. And the media still won’t pick a winner in Indiana. In the beginning when Clinton had a 20 point lead they seemed overly cautious – but not at all.

The margin shrunk successively through the night and when the results from the northwest districts Hammond and Gary come in it can shrink to nothing.

They are namely suburbs of Chicago that happen to be in another state – and Chicago as we know is Obama’s home state.

91% of black voters in North Carolina voted for Obama according to CNN. I shouldn’t report that, write some of the people who’ve sent me mail. Skin colour means nothing and therefore should not be mentioned, they claim.

One might wish it were true but to ignore the importance ethnicity has in this election – when the US can get its first black president – would be to shut one’s eyes to reality out of some misguided political correctness.

And now the magnificent John King is saying it will be until midnight before the Indiana counties in the northwest report their results.

And I’m not waiting that long.

Obama is giving a new victory speech – the first in over a month – that gets the CNN experts to jump for joy over his rhetoric brilliance. Especially for the part about what awaits in a possible campaign against John McCain in the autumn.

‘I am not naive’, claims the senator.

‘He better not be’, as they say around here.

And what happens now?

This is what I wrote in the commentary to the paper’s hard copy: ‘logically this should mean Hillary has to give up. It’s been a long time since she’s had a theoretical chance to catch up – and now the situation is even more dismal. And if she against all odds wipes her rival off the floor in the remaining primaries she’ll still lose. Big. But there is no chance in the world the former first lady will admit defeat.

She will continue to demand the results in Michigan and Florida – which were voided before the campaign began according to a decision by amongst others Clinton herself – are counted.

And she will continue to plea with the superdelegates who will be forced to resolve this mess in the end.

They will be told time after time that it’s only Clinton can win the big states, that only she appeals to the conservative Democrats who determine the outcome of ordinary elections and that therefore only she can defeat John McCain in the autumn.

Therefore count on this tedious process to continue until the last voter places a vote in Montana on 3 June.

And then the superdelegates will determine who will be the nominee around midsummer.

So what is this drawn out super expensive painful campaign circus good for?

Good question.

Remaining are West Virginia next Tuesday; Kentucky and Oregon 20 May; Puerto Rico 1 June; and Montana and South Dakota 3 June.

But as stated: no one can count on there being a candidate even on 4 June.

The final result in Indiana was too close a victory for Hillary Clinton. OK a win is a win but it wasn’t enough. And at the same time Obama won a crushing victory in North Carolina.

Tally: Hillary is in trouble.

The famous NBC journalist felt very confident about the situation.

‘We know who the Democrat nominee is going to be.’

And he added:

‘The Clintons have a big decision to make tomorrow.’

Dramatic. Hillary’s normal reaction is of course to just push ahead and in such case she’ll be around until June. But she’ll be under a lot of pressure from the leaders of the party. The superdelegates will be fleeing to Obama.

Hillary also has financial difficulties. It would seem she has to use her own money and how much will she dump into a campaign she’s doomed to lose? Should she continue – or not?

She has to work through all of this and give her answers today.

She can say what she wants but now she’s going to get the media against her.

Adam Nagourney writes in the New York Times: ‘Tuesday’s results did not improve her chances to get the Democrat nomination. Her chances to pass Obama have been further reduced’.

Chief CNN analyst David Gergen thinks it’s over for Hillary. But the moment when she gives up won’t come until June. And she’ll be ‘very loved’, he predicted surprisingly.

Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein who wrote a book about Hillary:

‘She needed to show the superdelegates she had momentum. It didn’t turn out that way. The only way Obama can be stopped is if he’s run over by a truck – in other words if he runs into trouble like his pastor.’

Full speed ahead to the White House for Hillary!

Unbelievably Indiana have not tallied their votes yet. An area near Chicago is missing.

‘Crazy’ says CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Seriously he said it looked like good old fashioned classic corrupt Chicago politics until one sees what type of results are needed and then you arrange for the necessary results. This was of course an exaggeration and his colleagues laughed with him but no one contradicted him.

Hillary didn’t hesitate a second when she finally gave her speech in Indianapolis. Of course she’d won. She told her supporters:

What was that? Did somebody blow one?

No Basil – that’s the sound of graft. That’s the smell of election rigging. Of Barry’s boys coming over the border to vote in someone else’s election. That’s the smell of Repugs voting in Dem elections to keep Hillary away from the White House. That’s the smell of Obama black shirts hijacking democracy.

So can we do it over? Can we get the stench out of here?