The real storyline of the evening… if Barack Obama had stayed in Michigan, he might have won. Even if he didn’t win, he’d place a very respectable second, and walk away with almost as many delegates as Hillary Clinton.

And if he had beaten her… her campaign wouldn’t be toast, but she would be in real, real trouble…

As it is, her lousy numbers in Detroit suggest the “racial divide in the Democratic primary” will be a major storyline for at least another week.

And she’s at 56 percent? With 84 percent in? She can’t beat “uncommitted,” the crapshoot of a selection, by 20 percent?

From one of my regulars: “I’m beginning to think this isn’t an election; it’s a Michael Crichton novel. All we need now is the smirky jackass who spouts Chaos Theory.”

UPDATE: A few readers write in, “You’re wrong, they both got zero delegates tonight.” Yes, if the DNC digs in its heels, and doesn’t buckle in the face of Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, Gov. Granholm, Rep. John Conyers, the unions, and African-Americans in Michigan screaming bloody murder that they’ve been disenfranchised, cries that “it’s Florida all over again!” and them attempting to enter the convention hall in Denver. Unless it comes down to these delegates, any nominee — Hillary, Obama, or Edwards — is going to get on the horn to Howard Dean and say, “make this mess go away, I don’t need this sideshow when I’m about to give my convention address!”