Amp's Primary "Super-Saturday" wrap-up

The results are in. Mitt Romney won the Nevada caucus for the Republicans handily, aided, no doubt, by a large contigent of Mormons in the state and by the fact that he actually campaigned there, unlike the other candidates. Ron Paul, it should be noted, managed a distant second.

On the Democrat side, Clinton won the popular vote, while Obama actually received more delegates. Obama is rather favored to win next Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary, which might give him enough boost to stay viable for Super Tuesday in February. Nonetheless, Hillary's political machine is getting into the groove of delivering results, and I think it's time to seriously start preparing for her general election candidacy.

In South Carolina, McCain won 33% to Huckabee's 30%. McCain has now won the first primary in the nation (New Hampshire), and the first primary in the south. This gives him good prospects for the next arena - Florida, on January 29th. Thompson managed a distant third with 16%. He was hoping for a first place finish, urgently required a second place, and even a close third might have kept him alive, but frankly, with a distant third, I think he's all but had it. This was a southern state right next to his Tennessee, and all he managed to do was take some evangelicals away from Huckabee. It wouldn't surprise me to see a resignation announcement in the next few days, but not before then.

Romney was close on Thompson's heels with a 15% 4th place. He does have money to fight in Florida, where he is already active, as well as Super Tuesday. Ron Paul came in a 5th, while Guiliani trailed with only 2% of the vote. 2%! I think he's bye-bye as well, and only a first place or strong second place in Florida will save him.

To conclude: I think we're looking at the solid prospect of a McCain-Clinton general election.