Election Day!

It'll be a long wait for the first returns tonight (the Utah primary polls are open until 7:30 Pacific, and the Hawaii and Idaho caucuses will wrap a couple hours later) but I'll be up to report what look to be three more Kerry victories.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised Edwards didn't put a little effort into taking one of these. A day's worth of visits and a minimal media investment might have paid large PR dividends for a supposed contender still in search of a second victory. He cancelled his scheduled appearance at Idaho's annual Frank Church Dinner, though, while Teresa Kerry spent several days in the state. In Utah, Edwards didn't even send a surrogate to the Beehive State's J-J dinner, while Kerry was represented by former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros and Kucinich sent actress Mimi Kennedy.

Gee, John E., you can't win if you don't try.

Whatever happens with Idaho's 18 pledged delegates, Kerry already has a head start, with endorsements from 4 of the state's 5 Supers, including Democratic Party Chairwoman Carolyn Boyce, state Vice Chairman State Sen. Edgar Malepeai, and the state´s two Democratic National Committee members, Gail Bray and Peter Richardson.

In Utah, local polls have Kerry comfortably ahead, leading Edwards 49-23.

If there's a suprise at the end of the night, it may benefit Dennis Kucinich, who has made two trips to Hawaii, the only candidate to campaign in the state. Since the state caucuses are primarily an activist venue with a traditionally light turnout, Kucinich may see his best result of the year.

In fact, I'm going to predict that by tomorrow morning, Dennis Kucinich will have finished ahead of John Edwards in more states that John Edwards will have finished ahead of John Kerry.