Huckabee wins West Virginia

Mike Huckabee has won the West Virginia Republican convention, with a slim majority of the vote over Mitt Romney.

W. Virginia votes on a plurality-majority type system, much as it would in the national elections, and if no one garners 50% support in the first round, they rangle behind the scenes and vote again.

This happened, with Mitt Romney winning the initial vote, but not a full 50% majority. Huckabee ran a close second, and McCain was a distant third, as this is an overwhelmingly Christian conservative state.

So McCain, at this point, saw a political opportunity and shrewdly threw his supporters behind Huckabee, to deny his closest rival Romney a big opening victory on Super Tuesday. Huckabee is going to play a role in the race from this point forward, but I don't think anyone believes he is going to take the crown overall. All McCain did here was take 18 delegates away from Mitt Romney when they both roll into the Republican National Convention.

Smart, very, very smart, and I respect the move. It's power politics at its best, and I applaud McCain for doing so.

Huckabee is looking good as a possible VP nominee to McCain, as he gives him the Christian conservative vote, as well as a strong number 2, that ran third nationally all through the race. This could be the start of a ball rolling on that type of ticket nationally, but that might be getting a bit ahead of everything.

For now, Huckabee has scored a good PR win, McCain denied his nearest, and only viable rival the delegates and PR he so richly needs, and Romney, well Romney gets nothing out of the deal, except out-manuevered...

I'll be back with more updates as they hit the airwaves.

Super Tuesday is here!

The political Superbowl has arrived people, and I'll be watching and reporting as the polls roll in.

With such rich delegate states as California, New York and Illinois up for grabs, this day could define what is turning out to be an Presidential election that will shape all of our lives for a generation.

On the Democrat side, Clinton and Obama are in a virtual tie nationally, and in California. Both are leading their home states, Barack his actual home state in Illinois, Hillary her adopted one in New York, and both will likely score big victories. It is not a winner-take all type vote, as the Republican party runs, so we may very well come out of this hugely important day still at a standstill as to who the Democratic nominee. Barack seems to have more resources and more momentum on his side, so if this race goes further, the downward trending of Hillary and the upward trending of Barack will likely continue. Hillary wants this race to stop today, but I don't think that's going to happen, and the longer it goes, the more Barack has the advantage.

On the Republican side, the country is really being split. The Christian, right-wing conservatives are having to choose between someone who is unpalatable in a general election but has good conservative 'value' positions, Mike Huckabee, and a man that no one seems to trust, but is seen as the only alternative in a national campaign to John McCain, Mitt Romney. McCain is running ahead of them both nationally, but his conservative positions don't really get the motor turning as much as Huckabee and Romney do. Huckabee is mainly a spoiler now, but he could easily 'Ralph Nader' this race away from Romney by pulling in the Christian conservative vote away enough to let McCain slip by on his national security credentials.

This is an amazing and interesting race, and like I said above, one that will decide all of our fates for a generation. Will the US renew themselves, elect a progressive leader that will change the world's opinion of the lone superpower, or will they doggedly stay with a Bush-style politician, and leave their standing with the world as low as it is right now?

This affects us all, Canadian, American, Afghani, Iraqi...I could name them all. The US sets the tone for the world, and they are electing the man or woman that will set that tone for at least the next 4 years.

Vote smart, vote well, vote with a future in mind, not with just a single issue. Vote overall, and vote for the person y0u think will change the US, and the world, for the better when they are done sitting in the Oval Office.

Best of luck, go change the world today....