Jay Reding.com

Real Clear Politics has the latest round of Texas polling, and it is looking very good for Hillary Clinton. PPP has Clinton up by 6%. Insider Advantage has her up by 5%. Zogby has her up by 3%. Rassmussen shows her down, but only by 1%. At this point, Clinton leads in the RCP Poll Average—narrowly, but it’s a lead nonetheless.

Clinton has a solid lead in Ohio, which puts her in a position to almost certainly take that contest. If she takes both Texas and Ohio, she will be in a strong position going into Pennsylvania and some of the later contests. With each passing contest, the idea that this race may not be settled until the convention becomes more and more likely.

If Clinton wins Ohio and Texas then she’s got a great deal of momentum. If she wins Ohio and narrowly loses Texas, she’ll be in trouble, but it won’t be a fatal blow. It seems quite unlikely now that she’ll lose both (although it isn’t impossible).

Those looking for some finality to this race after tonight are probably going to be disappointed. Unless Obama wins both states convincingly, he can’t say that Clinton is out. If Clinton wins both, she gets her Comeback Queen tiara back and gets the momentum into the key Pennsylvania contest. If the race gets split, then its still anyone’s game. With Clinton inching up on Obama in Texas, her political resilience may end up dragging this race on for quite some time.