McCain In The Driver's Seat With South Carolina Win

Sen. John McCain did tonight what he couldn't do eight years ago. Follow up a win in the first in the nation primary, New Hampshire, with a first in the South primary win in South Carolina. McCain beats Gov. Mike Huckabee by several points with Thompson and Romney finishing a distant third and fourth, respectively. Huckabee didn't handle losing well, suggesting McCain won the race dishonorably. He may as well pack his bags and go home. His first and perhaps only primary win will come in his home state of Arkansas. Winning the Iowa Caucus doesn't count for much at this point.

Gov. Mitt Romney scored a caucus win in Nevada, but it doesn't come close to matching McCain's two big primary state wins. Remember, Nevada is one of the few, big Mormon states and nearly half of Romney's votes in Nevada came from Mormon voters. There are no states on the horizon where he is leading in the polls. His campaign is alive, but not by much. If it is a two-man race at this point, it is McCain versus Romney.

And I still maintain that the fat lady is singing for Rudy Giuliani's campaign. He had one of his worst showings tonight, finishing sixth place behind Ron Paul with about 2% of the vote in South Carolina. Polls now show him trailing McCain in Florida's January 29 primary and California's February 5 primary. McCain is tied with Giuliani in his own back yard in New Jersey's February 5 primary. I don't see how Giuliani can afford to lose any of these states and remain viable. His problem is that he has absolutely no momentum on his side, unlike McCain and Romney.