The Note: West Virginia, Nebraska Primary Primer

— -- NOTABLES

--WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN WEST VIRGINIA: Almost 8 years ago to the date, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama by a 2-1 margin in West Virginia. Fast-forward to today, and the dynamics in the state have almost entirely flipped. Bernie Sanders is expected to do well today and Clinton, once on top in coal country and now hoping to unify the party behind her, is bracing for a loss. ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS and LIZ KREUTZ note what to watch for today. Polls close at 7:30PM ET: http://abcn.ws/1OloIli

--NEBRASKA VOTES TOO: Republicans there hold their primary tonight. Polls close at 9PM ET. Follow ABC’s full coverage of the West Virginia and Nebraska primaries at: http://abcnews.com/Politics/Election

--NOVEMBER PREVIEW -- CLINTON, TRUMP TIED IN THREE SWING STATES. In a new Quinnipiac poll released today, the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton and the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump are neck and neck in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. In Florida and in Pennsylvania, Clinton is at 43 percent while Trump is 42 percent. Among Ohio voters, Trump gets 41 percent and Clinton gets 39 percent. The gender and the racial gap in each state is wide. In all three states, Trump leads among men and white voters, while Clinton leads among women and non-white voters. http://abcn.ws/23ElZuc

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: If it’s over – and it is indeed over, for almost all intents and purposes – why is the Bern still being felt this intensely? Hillary Clinton’s campaign expects to lose Tuesday’s West Virginia primary handily, probably by a larger gap than it lost Indiana a week ago. Clinton won both of those states against Barack Obama back in 2008; it might be said that they like underdogs, but it can’t be said that they won’t vote for a Clinton. Clinton didn’t contest those states with advertising, and her coal comments surely hurt her in West Virginia. But going dark was her choice, just as her campaign is deciding to start advertising again in primary races, in Kentucky. Then there are new Quinnipiac polling numbers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida – showing tight Trump-Clinton contests in each, and Sanders a slightly better matchup for Democrats. Clinton may be ready to move on to the general election, but Democratic Party voters aren’t quite there yet.

WRAPPING UP A WILD RIDE: A 2016 EXIT POLL REVIEW. What was that all about? "That" is the wild ride of the 2016 primary season, and ABC News exit polls conducted across the primaries provide illuminating answers, according to ABC’s GARY LANGER. For Republicans, it was about demand for an outsider fueled by profound disenchantment with economic and political conditions. For the Democrats, a deep sense of economic unfairness also has played a role -– but without the level of divisiveness that rent the GOP.

--THE ECONOMY IS A GOOD PLACE TO START: Unemployment is down to 5.0 percent, below its pre-recession levels -- but economic discontent remains high. Underemployment is one factor -- while also down, it’s nearly double the unemployment number. Long-term unemployment, while also well down, remains high by historical standards. Perhaps most important is the long-term trend in lagging incomes. Americans with a college degree have seen their real median weekly earnings rise by nearly 23 percent in the past 35 years. All well and good -- but those who lack a four-year college degree have seen their real incomes decline by 9 percent. And they account for nearly seven in 10 Americans age 25 and older.

--MOST PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY’RE DOING LESS WELL: Because it's true. That harsh reality played out on both sides of this year's primaries and caucuses for which we have exit poll data. (Note, not all questions reported here were asked in every state.) Forty percent of Democratic voters were "very" worried about the state of the future economy -- a high level of strong worry in its own right -– and that soared to 66 percent among Republican voters. Eighty-four percent of Democratic voters to date have said that the economic system favors the wealthy. A plurality of Democrats –- and notably, a majority of Republican voters -- said they believe trade agreements cost more jobs than they create. Other factors were at play as well in the exit polls, analyzed this season for ABC News by Langer Research Associates. MORE: http://abcn.ws/27aezn7

YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ

RUBIO DOESN'T WANT TO BE TRUMP'S RUNNING MATE. Former GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio publicly and unequivocally said yesterday that he does not want to be considered as Donald Trump's running mate, writing in a post on Facebook that he still has reservations about Trump’s campaign and policies, ABC’s ALANA ABRAMSON and INES DELACUETARA notes. Trump will be “best served” by someone who fully embraces his campaign and his policies, he said in a post on Facebook. “I have never sought, will not seek and do not want to be considered for Vice President,” he said in the Facebook post. http://abcn.ws/1Tytj5k

PAUL RYAN LOOKING FORWARD TO ‘STRAIGHT CONVERSATION’ WITH TRUMP. House Speaker Paul Ryan said yesterday he's looking forward to a "straight conversation" with Donald Trump about the state of the Republican Party and the 2016 presidential race when the two meet on Capitol Hill Thursday, after expressing reluctance about endorsing Trump's White House bid. "We have right now a disunified Republican Party. We shouldn't sweep it under the rug without addressing it," Ryan, R-Wis., said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Monday. "That would be to our detriment in the fall." ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL has more: http://abcn.ws/1T7qR8q

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION AND WHAT’S AT STAKE. Late last week, sources confirmed the FBI had just finished interviewing a handful of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s closest aides and advisers as part of an inquiry tied to her private email server, and that next it plans to ask Clinton herself for an interview, suggesting the review is nearing or entering its final stages. Aside from defeating Donald Trump, it may be fair to say that this outstanding investigation about the handling of sensitive information on a private email server during her time at the State Department is the biggest obstacle on her path to the presidency. To clear that hurdle, the Justice Department must be convinced there was no criminal wrongdoing on her part. As the FBI closes in on its decision, ABC’s JUSTIN FISHEL looks back at what got her to this point and what’s at stake going forward. http://abcn.ws/1YhS0Hk

SANDERS MOCKS TRUMP’S ATLANTIC CITY TROUBLES. Bernie Sanders, who campaigned coast to coast Monday, started his day by taking a swing at Donald Trump at a rally in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “You don’t think he is a brilliant, successful businessman who can continue the tide of prosperity to America that he has brought here to Atlantic City?” Sanders said sarcastically about the presumptive Republican nominee. The crowd booed and jeered the reference to Trump. ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS notes, Sanders also swiped at Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor and Trump ally. He said Icahn’s "greed [was] destroying America" and mocked Trump’s troubles in the casino city. Earlier this year, Icahn bought the Trump Taj Mahal after it went bankrupt. http://abcn.ws/1ZxMMaH

A CLOSER LOOK AT TRUMP’S TAX PLAN. In Donald Trump’s eyes, he is a tax policy virtuoso. “I think nobody knows more about taxes than I do and income than I do,” he said this weekend. But what Trump says about his tax proposal, which he released in February, and what it actually proposes are two different things in some cases. His proposal promised tax relief for middle-class Americans, for instance, and proposed tax cuts for the very highest income households (people like him.)  ABC’s CANDACE SMITH takes a closer look: http://abcn.ws/1TyqwJs

WHO’S TWEETING?

@PhilipRucker: Scoop w/ @costareports: Dr. Ben Carson, acting as a Trump emissary, requests a pre-meeting with Speaker Ryan

@scottwongDC: Trump ally @RepKevinCramer says he thinks @SpeakerRyan will remain convention chairman and back @realDonaldTrump

@bpolitics: .@jimrutenberg explains how the media got it so wrong on Donald Trump http://bloom.bg/1QWQhkO 

@kathrynlopez: What’s a Conservative to Do? http://natl.re/yOO5sc  via @NRO

@morningmoneyben: What is Trump's position on tax policy? Depends on his mood. Like his net worth.