McCain Wins Big on Super Tuesday

The F-word (front runner) may finally fit

Mike Huckabee gave John McCain a little help today, wooing an additional 79 delegates to the Republican National Convention to his side.

McCain helped himself a lot by winning 364 in the 2008 Super Tuesday primary. American voters didn't help Mitt Romney at all, as he claimed only 57 delegates, good for a distant (475-151) second place.

McCain's victory was doubly padded by winning California, good for a whopping 170 delegates. This, added to victories in Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Delaware and (predictably) Arizona, made for a very, very good day for McCain, who now finds himself in the driver's seat.

For McCain, the test from here on out will be in winning over conservative elites. With James Dobson and chronic blowhard Rush Limbaugh aligned firmly against him, McCain will have his work cut out for him. It's said that as goes talk radio so go American conservatives, and Mitt Romney certainly holds the loyalty of talk radio.

Then there's Mike Huckabee. He's back in third place, but not far enough back to justify dropping out of the race. If he decides to stop playing nice with the McCain campaign and start playing to win, Romney may have a lot to gain from that.

Then again, with McCain already having claimed more than a third of the delegates necessary to win, he may simply be too difficult to catch.

The coming days will give us a better picture of where the Republican nomination truly stands. In the meantime, however, McCain is certainly entitled to bask in the glow of the huge victory he's won today.

Super Tuesday Could Tell the Tale

At least for Republicans

Months of nail-biting speculation may finally come to a close tonight as 24 American states vote in the 2008 Presidential primaries -- at least for Republicans.

1,023 delegates to the 2008 Republican Convention are up for grabs as John McCain and Mitt Romney -- with the Colbert/Stewart/O'Brien-made Mike Huckabee trailing in the distance -- duke it out for Republican supremacy.

1,191 will be necessary to win the Republican nomination. McCain currently has 111 delegates, while Romney has won 94. A sweeping victory for either man today (although the polls clearly favour McCain, even if conservative Republicans don't) could easily put him within jogging distance of victory.

Following a huge victory in Florida and a landslide of endorsements -- including the most recent one from former Republican nominee Bob Dole -- McCain clearly holds the momentum in this race, and recently announced that he expects to close out the Republican contest tonight -- or at least position himself with a stranglehold on it -- tonight.

However, we won't know if that's happened or not until the polls close tonight.

In the meantime, Romney's knives have come out, as they predictably do after high-profile endorsements. While needling McCain over Dole's support, announcing "Well, it's probably the last person I would have wanted to have write a letter for me," Romney has also released a new attack ad:



Appealing to self-declared conservatives could actually turn out to be a very potent tactic for Romney, according to David Frum. "He is at his strongest in the states where the rules allow independents to vote in the party primary of their choice," said Frum. "Where the primaries are closed, he doesn't do so well."

McCain's unwillingness to pander to the Republican party's conservative base could still prove his undoing. But with Democrat and independent swing votes being absolutely crucial to winning come November, McCain may still win based on the compulsive Republican desire for victory alone.

Super Tuesday, for Republicans, at least, will certainly clarify the picture.

Meanwhile, the Democratic race is expected to be anything but clear. With 1,681 deligates up for grabs, with 2,025 necessary to win, most Democrats expect Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to be contesting the Democratic nomination right up to the Democratic National Convention.

Obama, for one, is expecting a split decision today, which could actually turn out to play into the Democrat's corner, as the captivating Clinton/Obama duel continues to hog the headlines, even away from a largely-decided Republican candidate.

With Democrats claiming the lion's share of attention, the Republican nominee -- even if it is every Democrat's favourite Republican, John McCain -- could find himself fighting an uphill battle.

One way or the other, Super Tuesday could dictate the course of the presidential election, even if it doesn't produce a pair of acclaimable candidates.

Obama, Huckabee Draw First Blood

But super sunday will tell the tale

After months of nail-biting anxiety, the United States presidential primaries have kicked off.

Republican Mike Huckabee claimed a crucial first victory on the first primary of the season, the Iowa straw poll. Barack Obama beat out his Democrat competitors.

Obama won the support of an impressive 38% of Iowa voters, while Clinton and John Edwards claimed 29% and 30% of the vote, respectively. Huckabee won 34% of the vote, with Ames straw poll winner Mitt Romney settling for 25%. John McCain, who left Iowa for a jump-start on the New Hampshire poll, tied Fred Thompson with 13%.

Already, candidates have begun to abandon their campaign, as Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd have both elected to drop out of the race.

Things are about to get very interesting.

Although claiming a first win is a crucial feat, the Presidential picture will likely remain murky until the February 6 "super Tuesday" primaries, when California, Alaska, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Conneticiutt and Delaware all go to their caucuses.

In the meantime, however, the race will begin to take on its first signs of political intrigue, as New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan, Florida and South Carolina will all have held their own primaries. As victories are claimed and other candidates realize they can no longer win, support will inevitably be lent to other candidates. Things will get interesting as people begin to speculate what price has been paid for the endorsements of drop out candidates.

Even for those who rarely pay attention to American politics, the coming months will most certainly make them sit up and take notice.

First blood has been drawn in the race to determine who will contest the 2008 presidential election, but the show's only begun.

Tonight's the Night, This is It

Iowa straw polls happen tonight

For those paying attention to the long campaign for the American Presidency, and for those select few with dreams of becoming President of the United States, the long wait has finally ended.

The Iowa straw polls kick off tonight, with the New Hampshire primary to take place in five days' time.

This is where the rubber hits the road.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Mitt Romney will win the Republican poll. He won the Ames straw poll in August. However, Rudy Giulliani, Fred Thompson (then an undeclared candidate) and John McCain chose not to spend money in that particular contest, deciding to wait until the cards were really on the table.

Tonight, they are.

In Iowa, Mike Huckabee actually holds a six-point lead over Romney, while the other Republican candidates poll at eleven percent or less.



Meanwhile, Barack Obama leads Democrat candidates with 31%, while overall frontrunner Hillary Clinton trails John Edwards 24% to 27%, respectively.



In short, neither race is over just yet.

Even beyond Iowa, looking next to the New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton and John McCain claim narrow leads over their competitors.

Yet, as the primaries proceed, and the cards fall where they may, the question of who will contest the 2008 Presidential election will only become clearer.

Tonight's the night. This is it.