Clinton Wins Big in Kentucky

CNN is reporting with 99% of the votes counted Sen. Clinton has defeated Sen Obama 65% to 30%.

"Tonight we have achieved an important victory," Clinton said in Louisville.

"It's not just Kentucky bluegrass that's music to my ears. It's the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence even in the face of some pretty tough odds."

Clinton beat Obama across all age groups, income groups and education levels in Kentucky.

Eighty-nine percent of Tuesday's voters in Kentucky were white, according to the exit polls. Among them, Clinton won 72-22 percent. Nine percent of the voters were African-American and they overwhelmingly broke for Obama, 87-7 percent.

The exit polls from Kentucky also suggest a deep division among Democrats.

Two-thirds of Clinton's supporters there said they would vote Republican or not vote at all rather than for Obama, according to the polls.

Forty-one percent of Clinton supporters said they'd cast their vote for John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, and 23 percent said they would not vote at all.

Just 33 percent said they would back Obama in the general election, according to the polls.

Those numbers are even worse for Obama than in West Virginia one week ago, where 36 percent of Clinton voters said they would back him in the fall.

The Obama camp needs to be paying attention.

UPDATE: Jerome Armstrong, at MyDD, points out that Sen. Clinton not only won KY tonight, but also North Carolina:

SUSA does poll both Obama and Clinton in North Carolina today. Obama loses by double-digits, while Clinton defeats McCain:

North Carolina

Clinton 49
McCain 43

McCain 51
Obama 43

Going strictly by the latest poll shows Clinton leading by a 310-228 EV count over McCain, while the presumptive nominee, Obama, trails McCain by a 285-253 EV margin.

This is what makes Clinton supporters crazy -- the thought that the strongest general election candidate might not be on the ticket.