Ben Smith at Politico and TNR's Noam Scheiber set the table for today's inevitably headache-inducing primaries in North Carolina and Indiana. Heading into yet another round of supposedly make-or-break contests, the polls and pundits indicate a split decision that prolongs this imaginary stalemate till, at least, June 3 when South Dakota and Montana cast the final votes.

This maddening equilibrium appears likely to evolve only if one of the candidates sweeps the day. If Obama can hold off a late run by Hillary in North Carolina and surge in Indiana, conventional wisdom (and remember that nothing whatsoever has happened counter to it) suggests that Clinton would have little choice but to bow out.

A Clinton sweep, on the other hand, would unleash all sorts of biblical chaos. Crack legal teams will emerge from hiding to wage an epic battle of the dark arts over the Clinton campaign's imminent deployment of the "nuclear option" to seat Florida and Michigan's delegates. You will develop a twitching sensation and mild rash in response to the words "superdelegate" and "electability." Terry McAuliffe will continue his uninterrupted construction of a conflicted, alternate reality, the cumulative weight of which will produce black hole-like conditions that claim the lives of two Fox News producers. In short, the race will continue as is.

Scheiber suggests that strongly pro-Obama early voting will provide a cushion to stave off a Clinton upset in North Carolina. Even if she pulls off what would be an undeniably shocking and meaningful win, Smith points out the unchanged reality:

“On Wednesday, 93.3 percent of the pledged delegates [3,036 of 3,253] will have been allocated,” said Matthew Seyfang, a former Democratic delegate counter. “Barring some truly bizarre turn of events, she has already lost the race for pledged delegates.”

How many superdelegates do people think are actually still debating the merits of the two candidates? A Clinton win in NC would definitely change a few minds, but the reason there are still so many superdelegates withholding their endorsement is not because they're waiting to see how this plays out. They do not want to be seen as stepping into an ongoing race. They don't want to legitimize the right's childish taunts about the Democrat Party. Both sides will twist the numbers in a way that gives them an edge in the popular vote and pledged delegate count; only Obama can do so without distorting scientific principle in a manner roughly akin to unearthing and sodomizing Newton's corpse.

Ben Smith's Rundown: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10071.html

Noam Scheiber's Take: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/05/05/what-to-expe...

Thomas Edsall on the "Nuclear Option": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/04/clinton-camp-considering_n_1000...

Terry McAuliffe arguing against gravity: http://youtube.com/watch?v=yTWumj6qpmI