Mitt Romney

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    Two GOP contests on either end of the country produced two different results as former Massachusetts Governor W. Mitt Romney (R-MA) won the Nevada caucus and U.S. Senator John S. McCain, III (R-AZ)squeezed out a narrow victory over former Arkansas Governor Michael D. "Mike" Huckabee (R-AR) in South Carolina.
    Although it won’t be the talk about in the short run, Mitt Romney’s decision to cede South Carolina to his primary rivals and concentrate his efforts in Nevada was one of the wisest moved made so far in this campaign season. Romney finished fourth just behind former U.S. Senator Fred D. Thompson (R-TN) in South Carolina, last place among the current viable candidates. But instead of news reports talking about a poor performance, they will note that Romney, on the same day, overwhelmed his opponents capturing 51% of the vote in the Silver State.

John McCain

    In South Carolina, McCain pulled off his narrow victory because self-identified conservative voters, who made up the majority the voters, split their support among the candidates. McCain’s portion of conservative, combined with his win of moderates, gave him a 33% to 30% victory of Huckabee. Huckabee was trying to repeat his Iowa Caucus victory by winning the support of the evangelical community. He did win their support, but it was not enough to overtake McCain.
    Thompson’s 16%, barely ahead of Romney, is actually his best performance. Thompson was a late entry into the GOP Presidential contest and was supposed to be the "Great Conservative Hope" in a field of uninspiring candidates. But his lethargic campaign style quickly dashed all comparison to former President Ronald W. Reagan (R-CA), another Hollywood actor-turned politician. Thompson will likely meet advisers and make a decision whether or not to drop out of the race before the Florida primary on January 29.

Ron Paul

    The big surprise of the evening was the performance of former U.S. Representative Ronald E. "Ron" Paul (R-TX). Paul came in second place in Nevada and outperformed former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. "Rudy" Giuliani (R-NY) in South Carolina. The former Libertarian Party Presidential nominee is unlikely to win the Republican nomination, but his performances are proving that there is a strong anti-war block of GOP voters. The eventual nominee will have to placate them if they hope to win the general election.
    Retiring U.S. Representative Duncan L. Hunter (R-CA), whose campaign was never able to capture the attention of voters, ended his campaign after last finishing in the Nevada caucus. Technically he did not finish last in South Carolina as U.S. Representative Thomas G. "Tom" Tancredo (R-CO) and three fridge candidates, John H. Cox (R-IL), Hugh Cort, III (R-AL) and H. Neal "Cap" Fendig, Jr. (R-GA), were also on the ballot.

Rudy Giuliani

    The GOP contest now moves onto Florida, where Giuliani hopes to revitalize his campaign. The former frontrunner has performed poorly in the early voting states which are dominated by conservative voters. His strategy of skipping Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina, however, also meant that he was overlooked in media reports. The old adage "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" is taking hold as Giuliani has seen his once healthy lead in the Sunshine State has evaporated. Still, the Florida primary is likely going to produce another split result with Romney, Huckabee, McCain and Giuliani competing heavily in the last major contest before the semi-national primary on February 5. After Florida, only those candidates with money, name recognition, and some win under his belt, will be able to compete as a majority of the delegates are chosen on one day.

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Hillary Clinton

     Racial Tension Pulls on Clinton Momemntum: With the help of women, U.S. Senator Hillary R. Clinton (D-NY) was able to hold off a surging Barack H. Obama (D-IL) and win the Nevada Democratic caucus. Clinton won 51% of the state delegates compared to Obama’s 45%. But due to a quirk in the national delegate selection process, Obama will likely win one more delegate to the national convention that Clinton. Former U.S. Senator John R. Edwards (D-NC) trailed badly winning only 4% of the state delegates. His campaign will limp onto South Carolina where he was born and hopes to make a last stand.
     The Democrats in the Silver State saw increased turn-out, marking the third time that more voters have participated in the Democrats' nomination than the Republican. This is being interpreted as a good sign for Democrats for the general election. But the exit polls also revealed an increased polarized vote along racial lines. While Obama won a majority of the black votes, Clinton won an equally lopsided victory among Hispanic voters. Both candidates have gone to great length to down place the racial tensions in the electorate.

Barack Obama

The Democrats will next compete in South Carolina this Saturday. Obama has built up a lead in the state based almost entirely on black voters. To ease these racial tension, and avoid a loss which could undercut any momentum created by three back-to-back victories, Clinton should consider pulling back her operation in Palmetto State and concentrate on the semi-national primary on February 5. Clinton can ill effort the perception that she is losing steam heading into the mega-contest.
     All three candidates, as well as Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) and Maurice "Mike" Gravel (D-AK), have agreed not to campaign in Florida’s January 29 primary, whose date violates Democratic National Committee rules for selecting national delegates. It is still not sure what effect the Florida race will have on the campaign.

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