10:55pm: And the crowd files out, hurrying home to watch a few more hours of election returns. The night is still young.
10:53pm: Obama still talkin'... no, he's done now. It strikes me that he is always much better, a lot more inspiring as a speaker after big victories. With the uncertainty (and some losses) tonight... he doesn't seem as good.
10:40pm: Obama takes the stage, congratulating Clinton on her wins in Ohio and Rhode Island but making clear he still has the same delegate lead as he did when this election day began.
10:23pm: The crowd is all smooshed in here inside the perimeter now, outside the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio. It's a quiet crowd, everyone just waiting now.
10:22pm: Delegate count right now in Texas, 66 Obama, 60 Clinton. A total of 193 delegates up for grabs.
10:20pm: Hillary Clinton, after a BIG victory in Ohio tonight, is celebrating her comeback after 12 straight losses with a big speech tonight in Columbus. She's talking now - -- meanwhile, the crowd here still awaits Senator Barack Obama (and clearer results from Texas.)
10:15pm: Grabbed a shot with the Reverend... who shares a South Carolina background with me. (Jackson is from Greenville, S.C., where I worked for two years.)
10:05pm: Rev. Jackson says "the race isn't over until over"... already looking toward Pennsylvania.
9:49pm: I'm out of the basement. I also got the Rev. Jesse Jackson to do a live interview with me at 10pm, so tune in for a little Jesse Jackson.
9:35pm: The county-by-county map is looking a lot like the Missouri county-by-county map on Super Tuesday. Obama ended up winning MO in a squeaker because even though it looks like 80% of the state is in Clinton's color... the urban population centers deliver for Obama.
9:27pm: Jesse Jackson's in the house! We were on the risers when the press advance folks were letting him through the barricades. Meanwhile it looks like the race in Texas has tightened to 50-49, but the urban areas are not reporting more than 15% right now.
9:08pm: It's getting reeeeal tight here in Texas. With 12% of the precincts in, Obama leads only 50% to 48%. It looks like the big border counties aren't in yet, but neither are the major urban areas.
9:04pm:John McCain wraps up his speech at his Dallas victory party tonight. Check out KVUE at 10pm for a recap, my colleague Clara Tuma is up there in Dallas right now.
8:58pm: Caucuses across the state got late starts because the primary turnout was so heavy. Caucuses don't start until the last ballot is cast in the primary... and so long as you were in line before 7pm, you got a chance to vote.
8:56pm: McCain speaking now... and this press corps basement is getting more crowded, largely because it's getting quite brisk out there. The DMN's Todd Gillman said he came in because he stopped being able to feel his fingers.
8:47pm: White House just put out an announcement that President George W. Bush will be lunching with Senator John McCain tomorrow. The president is expected to endorse McCain... but does he really want the president's endorsement?
8:37pm: Obama's leading by 9% right now with only three percent of the precincts reporting. Meanwhile in Ohio, Clinton has opened up a 20 point lead.
8:32pm: Hillary Clinton WINS RHODE ISLAND! So that's Vermont for Obama, R.I. for Clinton.
8:29pm: Huckabee is speaking right now, if you're not already watching it, thanking supporters, using a baseball analogy.. something about "running hard to first base".
8:26pm: Newsweek's Richard Wolffe is here in the basement now. Meanwhile, outside, Obama supporters aren't allowed inside the event here tonight until 9pm because supporters are hoping that those supporters go to the caucuses, first.
8:12pm: Mike Huckabee having a presser in five minutes to ostensibly drop out of the race for president, according to his website.(The assist goes to KVUE photographer Todd Rogenthien.)
8:06pm: Both campaigns are alleging caucus irregularities, the Clinton campaign called an emergency conference call with the press to talk about "disappointing" efforts by Obama supporters to circulate sign-in sheets for the precinct caucuses before the caucuses ever started. But the Obama campaign sent out instances of Clinton supporters doing the same thing. (The sign-in sheets at caucuses represent how many supporters are in place for the respective candidates.)
8:03pm: John McCain CLINCHES the nomination!!! CNN just projects it. Huckabee expects to drop out soon.
8:02pm: As you can see from my photo below, we're sitting in a windowless basement of the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium, waiting for more than 1% of the Texas precincts to report. I am going to continue the post-by-post photoblog when I actually have amusing photos, but for now we'll do a traditional liveblog, since I'm in the basement.
