Watching the Returns

There are a couple of things to keep in mind as Missouri's election returns come in. First, Democrats traditionally rack up big margins in the cities -- St. Louis and Kansas City -- which are then, hopefully, offset by even bigger margins in the more rural areas of the state. What that means is that races that ultimately turn out just fine can look pretty ugly in the beginning, not only because exit polltakers are more likely to be in urban than rural areas, but also because the urban areas' returns often come in first.

This year, watching the rural areas will be of particular import, since Claire McCaskill has spent a good deal of time trying to convince rural voters that she's one of them. Right.