The Republican Results Today

As I already noted, Mitt Romney won in Nevada. There is a race for second place with all far behind and, with some votes still left to count, it looks like Ron Paul will come in second place. Currently Romney has 51% of the vote, with Ron Paul at 14% and John McCain at 13%. How many times can Giuliani trail Paul and still be considered a serious candidate? How many Paul supporters will declare this a huge victory?

John McCain has won in South Carolina, helping him go into Super Tuesday as the front runner. Mike Huckabee came in a close second but if he couldn’t win in South Carolina it is getting hard to see enough states where he can win in order to win the nomination. This very well might turn into a race between McCain and Romney unless Rudy Giuliani can manage to start winning somewhere. Should McCain win the nomination, Democrats who have been taking a general election victory for granted might be in for a surprise, especially if Clinton is the nominee.

Duncan Hunter didn’t even wait for the polls to close in South Carolina to drop out. Without being able to do anything in South Carolina it is hard to see how Fred Thompson has a chance, but he says he is staying in. Apparently he enjoys playing the part of a presidential candidate.

Update: Ron Paul isn’t going anywhere despite beating Giuliani in South Carolina and coming in second in Nevada. Paul came in second in Nevada primarily because he was the only one besides Romney to spend money there, yet he still came in far behind. That said, there is one point where Paul’s results do have meaning. It is sure hard to justify having a debate which includes Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson but excludes Ron Paul.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    Eric Dondero says:

    Already talk this morning of FiCons and libert Repubs rallying around one single candidate: Rudy or Romney, to ward off McCain.

    Saving that, McCain will be the nominee. Which will spark a backlash amongst more libertarian-minded voters. You’ll see a credible Libertarian Party standard-bearer emerge with that scenario, Bob Barr or Wayne Root, who will take votes away from McCain in the Fall election.

    Looks like the Dems have a good shot of winning in the Fall with Hill. Unless Rudy or Romney can emerge in the next couple weeks.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    Unless Giuliani manages a win quickly, it looks like you better go with Romney if your goal is to stop McCain.

    If McCain is the nominee the Libertarian Party will not have much impact. Due to his support from independents McCain would be the strongest candidate against the Democrats.

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