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Rudy Is Toast — How's that for a bold prediction? Seriously, I think Mark Steyn had it exactly wrong this afternoon, when he wrote: … If Romney hadn't won Michigan, I could almost imagine something like this happening. (Indeed, I did imagine it, back when it looked like Romney might flame out early.)
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The Myth of Strategy — Looking back at the last 17 days of the primary season, it occurs to your Cardinal that despite all the talk to the contrary, every major candidate has exactly the same strategy, which is to say no real strategy at all. Each has tried to win every big primary …
Discussion:
race42008.com

From McCain's Crowd: “Go Fred Go!” — Another interesting scene from the McCain victory rally at The Citadel was one concerning Fred Thompson. At about 9:00 p.m., a big screen showing Fox News put up pictures of McCain and Huckabee, side-by-side, with McCain having about a five-percentage-point lead.

The Party of ... McCain? — For weeks, we've marveled at the GOP field's stubborn refusal to winnow itself. With John McCain's victory tonight, we've finally achieved that belated winnowing. In one quick burst, McCain has effectively knocked Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson …

The end of Mike Huckabee — Liveblogging... He's taking the stage at his Columbia HQ. Huckabee says he just called McCain to congratulate him and thank him for a “civil,” “decent” campaign. — Huckabee slyly attacks Romney by praising himself and McCain for campaigning with “honor” instead of attacking someone else.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Riehl World View, Right Wing News, Stop The ACLU, Outside The Beltway and The Amboy Times

SOME CLARITY ON THOSE NV DELEGATES — From NBC's Mark Murray — After the Obama campaign pointed out it had won more pledged delegates than Clinton did — which the AP and NBC News later backed up — the Nevada Democratic Party issued this statement: “Just like in Iowa what was awarded today were delegates to the County Convention.
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Leading Democrats To Bill Clinton: Pipe Down
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The Moderate Voice, Right Wing News, Pam's House Blend, TIME, The RBC, Don Surber, Spin Cycle, CNN, Slate and DownWithTyranny!

OBAMA WINS MOST NEVADA DELEGATES...
Discussion:
Hold Fast, The Reaction, PoliBlog (TM), FOX Embeds, MSNBC, Hullabaloo, Christopher Hayes, Associated Press, The Strata-Sphere, The Edge of the American West, American Street, CNN, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Huffington Post, MyDD, Taylor Marsh, TPM Election Central, Donklephant, TalkLeft, Fausta's blog, politburo diktat 2.0, Marc Ambinder, New York Times, Hot Air, Liberal Values, Pandagon, Daily Kos, Scared Monkeys, PunditGuy, The Campaign Spot and Ground Game

allow me to interject — I will not, will not, vote for John McCain. — I will not, will not, vote for Mike Huckabee. — I will not, will not, vote for Ron Paul — unless he runs for Fuhrer. In which case, he's got my full support. — I might hold my nose and vote for Mitt Romney …
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Not with a bang, but a whimper — So long, Fred; we hardly even knew ye.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, Power Line, the evangelical outpost, Crooks and Liars, RADAMISTO and Ground Game


South Carolina Republican Primary— McCain Up- Thompson Down?
Discussion:
FishBowlDC, Right Wing News, You Decide 08!, The Corner, Hot Air, Instapundit.com and michellemalkin.com

The “public editor” of the New York Times really is nothing but a flack for the lefties — The “public editor” of the New York Times, Clark Hoyt, remains as ever unwilling to challenge the paper's editorial leadership on questions that matter. Today's column is devoted …
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How Clinton hit pay dirt — The keys to her Nevada victory: a huge wave of new voters — If you want to know how Sen. Hillary Clinton won a convincing victory in Saturday's Nevada caucus, look back to a meeting Dec. 15 at William E. Orr Middle School in Las Vegas.
Discussion:
TalkLeft

The Four Horsemen Claim the Monoline Insurers. Who's Next? — This week on our way to Financial Armageddon it was the turn of the monoline insurers to face the scythe. For over two months AMBAC Financial and MBIA, the two biggest insurers of municipal and structured debt …
Discussion:
Firedoglake

FBI denies file exposing nuclear secrets theft — The FBI has been accused of covering up a file detailing government dealings with a network stealing nuclear secrets — THE FBI has been accused of covering up a key case file detailing evidence against corrupt government officials …


In Legal Cases, C.I.A. Officers Turn to Insurer — WASHINGTON — When Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. came under investigation for ordering the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation videotapes, one of his first calls was to a small Virginia insurance company that thrives on government trouble.

Ronald Reagan Is Still Dead — CONTEMPLATING the Clinton-Obama racial war, some Republicans were so excited you'd have thought Ronald Reagan had risen from the dead to slap around a welfare deadbeat. — Never mind that the G.O.P. is running on empty, with no ideas beyond the incessant repetition of Reagan's name.


SC Primary Coverage: Chris Matthews Wants To Wrap The Mantle Of Reagan Around McCain — Chris Matthews eats, sleeps and breathes politics, that much is clear. But what bothers me so much is that it's all about the process and attaining the result, not sticky little details like reality.