Smoky back rooms on the horizon?

If The Politico's Ben Smith is right, the Democratic primary could end with some back room negotiations at the DNC in Denver, Colo.

Though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in every contest except Iowa, Barack Obama has kept pace and now has (1) more delegates than her going into South Carolina.

And John Edwards has 18 delegates, just behind Clinton's 24 and Obama's 25.

After Obama won Iowa, I thought it would come down to Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when the majority of states vote for their nominee.

But now, I'm not so sure.

Now it seems as though the contest will run past Super Tuesday, possibly up to the convention, when the delegates will get to decide who the nominee will be.

According to Smith, that might give Edwards the power to sway his delegates toward a particular candidate, if he can get 15 percent of them into his camp.

The Republican race seems just as uncertain.

While John McCain and Mike Huckabee in Iowa have won the major races in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mitt Romney has swept up the leftovers, in Michigan, Wyoming and Nevada.

Romney leads the field with 24 delegates; Huckabee follows with 18 and McCain comes in third with 10.

Of course, without strong showings in Super Tuesday, none of the candidates will have a chance, but now it looks like those campaigns might stretch beyond that day.

All of my delegate numbers came from Slate.com's excellent poll and results coverage.