Spin Cycle

With dark blue counties the strongest for Hillary, the map below shows just how well she's likely to do in the rest of Appalachia -- WV and Kentucky -- in the next two weeks. So far there's no sign of a bump for Obama.

So, a blog at Real Clear Politics argues, she's been counted out too soon: 30-40 point wins in Appalachia, a similar performance in Puerto Rico, and Clinton can catch up in at least some measures of the total popular vote. And if she does that, she has a credible claim. Obama, by mostly ignoring the two states, may be hoping to depress turnout and thereby the size if not the spread of the loss:

"What happens to 'It's Over' if Clinton pulls a 40-point victory in West Virginia on Tuesday, then follows it up a week later with a 30-point victory in Kentucky? If these states turn out in the same margins that states since March 4th have averaged, that would imply a net of about 290,000 votes for Clinton. That puts her within striking distance of a reasonable popular vote victory. 'Over' will be over as we turn our attention to Puerto Rico."

Even with those numbers, it's pretty much an outside shot: She's 714,000 behind right now. Even if she picked up another 250,000 in a Puerto Rico blowout, she'd be 160,000 to 200,000 behind. So she'd still have to throw in, say, Florida to make the case. But it's worth knowing there's still a minority opinion out there among political pundits...