Shocker.

Hillary Clinton won the Kentucky Democratic primary Tuesday, slowing Barack Obama’s seemingly inexorable march toward the presidential nomination.

Exit polls indicate that the New York senator is winning by at least 2-to-1. She is capturing almost every demographic group, doing particularly well among the large group of white, working-class voters in the state.

The win comes one week after Clinton trounced Obama by 41 percent in West Virginia, exposing Obama’s weaknesses among certain voters.

“Tonight we achieved an important victory,” Clinton told an enthusiastic crowd at her victory rally in Louisville, Ky. “It’s not just Kentucky bluegrass that’s music to my ears, it’s the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence.”

Votes are still being counted in Oregon, which also is holding its primary, and early returns are not expected until later in the night.

Here’s the exit poll. As expected, she’s done especially well with white voters, although she looked to have about the same number of support with men and women. Obama won blacks, while Hillary won whites. 86% of whites who felt that race was important voted for Hillary.

The exit polls point to three reasons: Her support among white voters, her support among rural voters, and Barack Obama’s controversial formal pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Among whites in Kentucky, who made up 9 in 10 voters, Clinton won 71 percent of the vote while Obama only won 22 percent.

Rural voters also voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. Those voters made up 45 percent of the electorate and nearly 80 percent of them went for Clinton. Among suburban voters, who made up 30 percent of the vote, Clinton won by a narrower 18 point margin. Meanwhile Obama carried urban voters by 18 points, but those voters only made up a little more than 10 percent of the electorate.

There is also evidence Obama’s former pastor continues to haunt him. Nearly 55 percent of Democratic voters said Obama shares the most controversial views of Wright and those voters went for Clinton 84 percent to 9 percent over Obama. Among the 44 percent of Kentucky voters who said Obama does not share Wright’s views, 51 percent voted for the Illinois senator while 43 percent went for Clinton.

I’m not sure what kind of analysis to make of this — racism? sexism? — but the meaning behind such attitudes really is irrelevant. The results are still the same. What will this mean if Obama wins the nomination?

It’ll be interesting to see what the results in Oregon are. If she wins there as well, how much will this reinvigorate her chances of winning?

I’ll keep you updated.

UPDATE:
Obama wins Oregon — no surprise there. Here are the exit polls. He won almost every demographic.

What are these conflicting polls telling us? Any ideas? Discuss.