It's quite entertaining watching the pundits and political junkies try to spin Mitt Romney's victory in Michigan as the event that kept his campaign afloat and that it keeps him from dropping out.
As I've been saying for some time now, there's no way that any of the leading candidates are going to drop out before Super Tuesday. There is simply too much on the table yet to come before you can write any of the candidates off.
Romney, despite not having won a state before Michigan, was still leading in the total number of delegates - the only fact that matters. Huckabee and McCain trail him badly. Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson aren't even on the map yet. Giuliani is hoping that Florida catapults him ahead of Romney and energizes his campaign going into Super Tuesday. Thompson needs a win sometime soon to show that he's got the staying power for the long haul.
Right now, it is Romney's race to lose, and he's holding off his challengers.
For McCain, losing Michigan isn't the end all, but it shows that momemntum doesn't count for much in primaries. He's got to do better than win an open primary in New Hampshire in order to win the nomination. Winning South Carolina would help, but he'd still need to show well during Super Tuesday. I don't know if he can, because too many people within the party see McCain for who he is - an opportunist who cares nothing about the Party, and cares only about his own personal advancement.
Meanwhile, over in the Democrats race - Hillary won Michigan unopposed. How was that possible? Well, Michigan was sanctioned by the Party for jumping ahead in the slate of states to hold primaries, and told the candidates not to go on the ballot there. Obama and Edwards listened to the Party - Hillary didn't. She won because the others chose to listen - and voters ended up with no choice. They could either vote for Hillary or vote not committed. They could not write in a candidate. That was not an option. So, Hillary got to extend her lead in delegates without even trying.
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