Primary Coverage: Nevada and South Carolina

THE GOP - SOUTH CAROLINA
The results of South Carolina have pretty much devastated this Fredhead and Reagan-coalition conservative. Sure, Fred Thompson has run perhaps the most unorthodox and ineffective campaign, but I had my hopes set on message taking precedence over everything else, especially in South Carolina. Alas, John McCain pulled off an impressive win, considering this is the state that flatly rejected him over our current president eight years ago.

In truth, it was probably Thompson’s big campaign against Mike Huckabee that peeled off so many voters from the latter and gave McCain enough to achieve a popular vote victory. The interesting story from South Carolina is Huckabee, who has a real drop in momentum since his win in Iowa. Evangelicals in South Carolina split between Huckabee and Thompson, indicating Huckabee might not have as much of lock on that demographic as he would like. Here’s the skinny on the results from the Palmetto State: McCain comes out with his second primary victory as the (shudder) GOP frontrunner. Huckabee has second place to his name, but he’s got to win a lot more delegates if he wants to make his campaign remain competitive. Mitt Romney’s victory in Nevada nulls his fourth-place finish in South Carolina, and he is probably McCain’s toughest rival right now. Thompson, sadly, may have lost whatever he had going for him with his disappointing third place on Saturday. -MRW

THE DEMOCRATS - NEVADA
Oh, Hillary, you cold old fox, you. You’re like Foxboro, you’re so cold and ruthlessly precise.
You channeled a little George Clooney this weekend and won all the casinos, despite filing legal suits regarding the appropriateness of caucusing taking place in those very same casinos. And while I still can’t fathom the cigarette girls of the Culinary Workers Union wearing little “I Voted!” stickers on their sequined tops, they all voted for you, apparently.

For serious, though, Hillary’s win in Nevada is huge, despite the seemingly lesser media coverage at the moment. While she and Obama virtually split the delegates, her name is getting top billing in another mildly surprising win, and that definitely counts for something. Once again, women emerged from underneath their piles of laundry and vacuum cleaners to vote for a Clinton; reinforcing what happened in the Granite State. And, critically for Florida and California, Hillary scored very well with Hispanic voters. This does not bode well for Republican efforts on the last great frontier of polling: the Latino vote.
While Obama will probably bounce back in South Carolina where he is polling well with the Democratic Party’s black constituency in the state, that’s what everyone said about Nevada. As always, never underestimate the Clintons. - KMM

THE GOP - NEVADA
It was no surprise to Nevada when Mitt Romney swept over the competition, winning 51% of the vote and 17 delegates. Ron Paul won 14% of the vote and garnered 4 delegates, while John McCain came in third with 13% and 4 delegates. This is Romney’s second “gold medal,” as he likes to call them, and Paul’s highest finish yet. It was likely that Romney and Paul finished strongly due to their unique support networks: Mormons and prostitutes. Respectively. Over 25% of the voters attending the GOP caucuses were Mormons, and out of every ten Mormons who voted, nine did so for Romney. Paul was endorsed by, among other political and academic figures, Dennis Hof, the owner of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, a brothel that operates out of Mound House, Nevada. While McCain likely will grab most of the days’ headlines with his win in South Carolina, Romney’s resounding victory clearly demonstrates he has found his voice as a "fix-it" business man and will remain a viable candidate for the nomination as he continues to rack up delegates. - DHK