Clinton, McCain claim California, CNN projects  —  (CNN) — Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain will win California, Super Tuesday's biggest prize, CNN projects.  —  McCain padded his lead in the Republican presidential race, capped by taking California's 170 delegates.

The Great Big Early Exit Poll Report  —  I just got a big pile of exit poll data.  —  The early wave in California: McCain 40 percent, Romney 36 percent, Huckabee 10 percent.  —  Fascinating and fun as it is, I remind my readers that this doesn't tell us that much, as we don't know what the district-by-district breakdown is.

Berman's count: 606-534  —  David Plouffe, on a conference call just now, offered the Obama campaign's estimate of where they stand at this moment in terms of delegates.  —  “We are, in terms of delegates, ahead currently: about 606 to 534, in terms of pledged delegates awarded tonight,” he said.

Re: The Die Has Been Cast  —  Remember the Clinton years?  We should — we may be on the verge of reliving them.  But I recall being most frustrated when some anti-Clinton zealot would claim the president had ordered an assassination or run cocaine through Mena Airport.

DEM EXITS, SECOND WAVE  —  These are the second wave exits.  Not certain whether or not they're weighted.  Assume they're not.  —  GA: C- 25.5, O - 75  —  CT: C - 45, O - 52.2  —  IL: C - 29.1, O - 69.6  —  AL: C - 37, O - 59.6  —  DE: C - 41.9, O - 55.6

The morning after  —  I think John O'Sullivan is right.  There was an explicit anti-Romney vote in the south.  A mere month ago, in the wake of Iowa and New Hampshire, I received a ton of emails from southern readers saying these pansy northern states weren't the “real” conservative heartland …

SUPER TUESDAY LIVE BLOGGING  —  We are live blogging tonight and posting the most recent estimates for each race derived from the official public exit poll tabulations as they are posted online.  The table will update regularly (though you will need to reload the page to see updates) …

CIA Chief: We Waterboarded  —  Gen. Hayden Confirms the Agency Waterboarded Three ‘High-Value’ Detainees  —  CIA director Michael Hayden confirmed in an open session of Congress Tuesday his agency's use of an interrogation technique many consider torture — a technique at the center …

CALIFORNIA....Hmmm.  Exit polling suggests that Hillary Clinton won California by seven points, 51-44.  If she won the absentee ballot race even more strongly, she'll beat Obama by 10 points or more.  —  More broadly, it's a little surprising that there have been so many big victories tonight on the Democratic side.

No-Mentum, Democrat-Style  —  Something about the Obama campaign reminds me of the Howard Dean phenomenon.  I don't mean Obama's a flash in the pan.  Obviously, Obama's a serious candidate with a real chance of victory.  Having said that, Democrats who deeply excite young people and play …