In an admirably blunt assessment of the situation, he told me he thinks Obama is surging, and that Clinton-fatigue may be a factor.

“He’s coming on strong,” said Collins, a 44-year-old resident of South Boston who works for the city’s department of transportation. “I think people are tired of the Bushes and the Clintons. They want something new.”

“At the beginning, I thought she was going to run away with it,” said Collins.

He estimated that the people he was calling broke between Clinton and Obama “about 50-50.”