The Kentucky/Oregon/American Idol Finale Live-Blog

7:01 p.m.: Shockingly, MSNBC calls Kentucky for Hillary. The numbers are actually close right now with 13% in, but I'm hearing that's just off of Louisville (Louaville?) votes.

7:02 p.m.: Exit polls from MSNBC say that only 1/3 of Hillary voters will vote for Obama in Kentucky in November. And my guess is, only about 1/2 of them would vote for Hillary in November anyway.

7:05 p.m.: Don't forget, even as they keep screaming about how Obama can't win working class whites--Oregon is the 12th whitest state in the country (Kentucky is 13th) and has a lower per-capita income than the working-class paradigm state of Ohio.

7:20 p.m.: Had to restart my computer, can someone please restart Terry McAuliffe?

7:21 p.m.: Keith Olbermann asks McAuliffe if bringing up national security isn't a trojan horse designed to bring Obama down with Hillary. Ding ding ding ding!

7:22 p.m.: McAuliffe just said that the Republicans won't go after Hillary on national security. Hahahahahahahahahaha! Thanks for that Terry, I needed a laugh.

7:23 p.m.: Terry McAuliffe is off now, so back to what I had been typing before my Internets crashed. They had been discussing whether or not Obama will "declare victory" tonight, but I don't think he has any reason to say so explicitly, since it's a moot point.

7:25 p.m.: "Give Hillary the nomination because Bill Clinton won states like Kentucky and West Virginia in 1992 and 1996". I'm sorry, did Bill undergo a sex change, put on a pantsuit, and warp us all back 16 years while no one was paying attention? Because last I checked, they're not the same person.

7:26 p.m.: One of the big Hillary reasons for staying in the race is that she'll get a good turnout in Puerto Rico. On the other hand, they also argue that their claim to the nomination rests on the fact that they win "big states," the ones with more electoral votes. So how do you put that much emphasis on a state that has NO electoral votes, more than a smaller state that at least has some votes? Or is that one of those twists of logic that only makes sense when I put on my "Hillary-Clinton-Alternate-Universe-Hat"?

7:30 p.m.: Sean Braisted has an interesting exit poll statistic--apparently honesty is not a Kentucky value.

7:32 p.m.: I've asked this before, and I'll ask it again--why would anyone ask Harold Ford how you win an election?

7:34 p.m.: Scarborough asks Ford why voters were willing to listen to the message from Ford but not from Obama. Uh, Joe, they didn't. Yes, he went to campaign in East Tennessee. He still got his clock cleaned, and he didn't have the base to back him up. Obama's doing the smart thing by locking down his base now.

7:43 p.m.: 45% of Kentucky voters did say that Edwards' endorsement of Obama was a factor in his decision. I don't think Obama needed to do more than he did, but perhaps he could have sent Edwards there to campaign once or twice.

7:47 p.m.: 13 minutes till American Idol starts (Hillary's speech is at 8:30, I'll only flip to it if nothing's happening on AI), and I'm taking a break. I'm coming down from my wine buzz and now I'm kinda hungry.

7:57 p.m.: Tonight we are pairing a 2006 Dashboard Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand with a Lemon Rosemary Chicken Kashi-brand Lean Cuisine. This wasn't from the wine tour, this was a bottle from the weekend that I need to finish before I start on the wine tour wines.

8:00 p.m.: American Idol time!

8:01 p.m.: Please tell me that they are not having Michael Buffer do the "Let's get ready to rumble" bit to kick off the show. Please tell me this is not happening. This show is so surreal now, it's as if they're taking a page from the Hillary handbook.

8:04 p.m.: Introductory bits, the Davids will be singing three songs each and you'll have four hours to vote. Go Cook!

8:05 p.m.: They're keeping the boxing motif going. It's only a matter of time before David Cook claims that he comes from a bigger state than Archuleta and therefore he should be the Idol.

8:07 p.m.: While we're STILL doing the introductory bits, take a look at these new Gallup poll numbers. Obama is SURGING among groups that he needed to do "better" among, now with the majority of women and Hispanic voters. I really like those Hispanic numbers, that bodes well for the future of the party.

8:08 p.m.: The reason why Cook should win is because he looks comfortable on the stage. Archuleta looks like he's about to wet himself.

8:13 p.m.: STILL with the boxing motif--art is imitating life. Clive Davis is picking the first songs.

8:14 p.m.: David Cook is singing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." He's not going with the rocker thing here, but the arrangement is allowing him to show off his vocals.

8:16 p.m.: Not a perfect performance, but very good vocally. Randy and Paula like it, and Simon said it was phenomenal!

8:18 p.m.: Archuleta is singing "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." I know I'm biased, but when the two of them go up against each other, it's easy to tell who the stronger singer is. Archuleta is a great singer, but he doesn't have Cook's depth or range. And he still looks like he's about to wet himself.

8:21 p.m.: Randy liked it, Paula loved it and looks pretty loopy already, and Simon thought it's his best so far, and thinks that Round 1 goes to Archuleta. I'll admit, he did get better towards the end of that song, but I didn't think it was better than when he sang "Imagine".

8:24 p.m.: Hillary Clinton is now speaking. Blah blah blah, "You've never been invisible to me" (you know, except for the time before I ran for office). Back to American Idol commercials.

8:27 p.m.: While we're waiting, look at the 10-day forecast for Ithaca. The weather gets nice right as the parents show up for graduation. Like clockwork.

8:28 p.m.: They're using the songs from the songwriting competition. Trainwreck time!

8:29 p.m.: Perfect rock song for Cook. It sounds vaguely Nickelback-ish. He may be reaching a little bit on those high notes but I think it's ok.

8:32 p.m.: Randy says he "did the best with what he had", Simon thought it was just ok, and Paula doesn't understand how the songwriting competition works.

8:37 p.m.: Archuleta singing a slow ballad. Oh, the 13-year old screaming girls are going to love this.

8:40 p.m.: Is Paula even paying attention? I'm guessing not. The judges are liking David Archuleta better tonight.

8:45 p.m.: Cook is singing "The World I Know" by Collective Soul. This is a song I really like. It could go either way for him.

8:48 p.m.: Good arrangment, I'm worried he held back a little bit. Randy and Paula loved it, Simon thought it was the wrong choice.

8:51 p.m.: After the commercial break, David Archuleta will sing "Imagine." AGAIN. Why should he be rewarded for doing the same song twice? At least Cook was willing to take a risk with that song.

8:55 p.m.: He screwed up the lyrics of this song AGAIN. "Sharing for the world" makes no sense. It's either "Sharing ALL the world" or "Living FOR today", pick one.

9:13 p.m.: Computer screwed up again. Simon continued with the (incredibly stupid) Rocky routine, saying that Archuleta delivered a "knock-out". I personally don't think he should be rewarded for doing the same song twice. If you agree with me, vote for David Cook by calling 1-866 IDOLS 01 (or 03 or 05), or if you have AT &T, text "vote" to 5701.

9:18 p.m.: Oregon results don't come in until 11 my time. I'll start a new thread then. I'm taking a break from live-blogging until then.