With 95% of the ballots in, it appears that Hillary Clinton has held off the challenge of Bernie Sanders in Iowa. Hillary leads Bernie 50% to 49% (with 1% to the now departed Martin O’Malley) and has been awarded 667 delegates to 656 for Sanders.

In mid-December, Hillary had a 9 point lead over Bernie. But this lead evaporated and made this race too close to call. Had she lost tonight it would have reminded voters that she lost Iowa not only to Barack Obama, but to John Edwards in 2008. 

Assuming that Hillary holds the lead, in a few days no one will remember that she won by the tighest of margins. They will only remember that she won.

Still, Bernie Sanders is expected to win in New Hampshire. But what really counts is the South. If Bernie can make it razor thin on her political turf then she’s got trouble. Of course, she might have more trouble had Bernie not taken her damn e-mails off the table. 

UPDATE: Fox News says the race is too close to call. Each have 50% of the vote with Hillary having 657 delegates compared to 654 for Bernie.