Although they are still close in the race for delegates, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama may be finding some distance between them, one that the delegate count may not accurately reflect. Based on exit polling from Virginia, Maryland and Wisconsin, the numbers are starting to show that Sen. Obama is cutting into some of Sen. Clinton’s core constituencies which could mean tough times ahead for the Clinton Campaign.

Both Virginia and Maryland showed Obama making gains with white voters and women. Today’s results out of Wisconsin weren’t exactly good news for the Clinton Campaign, as Obama took 53% of the middle-aged vote, and won by decent margins among those earning less than $50,000, and self-described moderates and conservatives. Sen. Obama was also very close in the female constituency, losing by a 49% - 51% margin to Sen. Clinton.

Obama has been on an impressive winning streak, and although exit-polling is not always a perfect predictor of voting trends it could either mean something, or just be state specific. The information does have people talking, as Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo has called it gut check time for Team Hillary:

“Clinton’s hope to even come close among pledged delegates rests on big wins in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania. But the trends in support among key demographic groups give very little reason to think those outcomes are likely.” –Talking Points Memo

It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks as these last few states will help to decide which Democrat will square off against Sen. John McCain. It is my hope that Hillary wins at least one state before things are wrapped in order to keep this race interesting. Although the exit polling is curious, it is still about those precious delegates, thus in my mind this race remains close.