Tonight, the national spotlight will shine on the winners of Maryland's presidential primary. If pre-election polls are accurate, the victors could be declared moments after the polls close at 8 p.m.
Otherwise, surprises may be in store.
Campaign strategists and politicians in both parties will be sifting through vote totals and exit-poll data throughout the evening, regardless of who wins, even as the candidates move on to other states. Neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton is expected to be anywhere near the shores of the Chesapeake or banks of the Potomac to declare victory tonight.
Obama plans to be campaigning in Wisconsin, scene of next Tuesday's biggest primary. Clinton will be in Texas, which votes March 4.
Here's how they and their advisers will be looking at the returns, regardless of where they are, and what's at stake in today's balloting:
UPSETS. If the predictions of the politicians and pollsters are on target, Obama will sweep Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia by comfortable margins.
But what if they're not?
Clinton's best chance to steal a victory would seem to be in Virginia, which has a smaller portion of African-Americans - Obama's best group in previous contests -and more rural voters than Maryland. Clinton and her husband put last-minute efforts into that state yesterday, hoping to turn the tide her way. It's the largest primary prize, with the most delegates at stake.
Polls in Virginia close at 7, so a winner could be declared while Marylanders are still voting.
REPUBLICANS. Remember the Republicans? Their race was supposed to have ended after Mitt Romney dropped out last week. John McCain, at that point, appeared to have gained a virtual lock on the nomination.
Apparently, word that the race was over never reached Mike Huckabee. He defeated McCain in Louisiana and Kansas on Saturday and is contesting a narrow McCain win in Washington state.
Today's relatively moderate Republican primary in Maryland may be out of reach for Huckabee. If he steals a state from McCain, it will probably be Virginia. Evangelical Christians, home-schooling advocates and other social conservatives abound in the Old Dominion, and Huckabee has been airing commercials there.
McCain took the weekend off, but in Annapolis yesterday he insisted, "We're doing fine."
Losing anywhere today could be more than an embarrassment for the front-runner. McCain would be forced to intensify his efforts to reassure very conservative Republicans that he's on their side.
