Political Cartoon: "McCain's the One" by Bill Mitchell

Mo' Money Less Problems

Besides votes, there's something else that goes hand-in-hand with primary season: the almighty dollar. Without it, you won't get very far, unless your Mike Huckabee who was nearly broke a few weeks ago. But Huckabee's success on a thin budget is rare, even unheard of.

Throughout this contest, we've learned that Barack Obama knows how to raise money. In January alone, Obama raised $32 million, dwarfing the $14 million raised by Hillary Clinton in that same time. And days after Super Tuesday it appeared that the Clinton campaign was suffering from financial woes. That was confirmed when Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million of her own dollars. Obama, on the other hand, raised $7 million in the 36 hours after Super Tuesday without having to dig in his own pocket. As Clinton advisors worked without pay, the Obama campaign added this latest turn of events to its already bulstering momentum.

In what is sure to be a long race for Clinton and Obama, mo' money does mean less problems. But, one thing's for sure; having tons of money won't always get you to the finish line. Just ask Mitt Romney. He spent an estimated $1.16 million per delegate, meaning it would've cost him $1.13 billion dollars to get the nod from the GOP.

Ouch.

Mitt Quits

Super Tuesday Results: McCain Deals TKO, Democrats Split

After weeks of build-up, Super Tuesday has finally come and gone. Living up to the hype, 24 states either caucused or voted in primaries, and the results were dramatic. The biggest surprise of the night came from the Republicans as Mike Huckabee--bible in hand, of course--became the candidate of the South, the GOP's true base. West Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas (where he was governor for over 10 years) all belonged to Huck, and after his surprising success he mocked a struggling Mitt Romney (Colorado, Massachussetts, Utah, North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana) who earlier deemed the contest a "two-man race" by saying "it is a two-man race, and we're in it."

I'm not sure where Huck stands financially, but he did say that he was "going on." And with the delegate-rich and conservative Texas primary fastly approaching, he'll likely have another victory speech to give.

John McCain practically wrapped up the Republican nomination on Tuesday, carrying a majority of the states including the big prizes of California and New York. McCain still, though, has his worked cut out for him in terms of convincing conservatives that he is just that. My guess is that putting a bible-totting, former Arkansas governor with the gift of gab on the ticket with him would accomplish just that.



Meanwhile, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama traded victories all evening. In the end, Obama carried thirteen states (Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Utah, North Dakota, Connecticut, Illinois, Alaska, Delaware, Kansas, Idaho and Minnesota) and Clinton carried nine but, like McCain, also got the big prizes of California and New York. Clinton's win in Massachussetts-- depsite the endorsements of John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy and Gov. Deval Patrick of Obama--was a key.

As far as delegates go, the count varies. MSNBC.com has McCain atop the Republicans with 721 and has Obama ahead of Clinton with 861. CNN.com tells another story. FoxNews.com tells yet another. Worth noting is just how close the Democratic contest is; of the 14 million plus popular votes received on Super Tuesday, Clinton received 7,427,700 votes, or 50.20% and Obama received 7,369,798 votes, or 49.80%. Talk about a slobber-knocker.

We didn't learn what the landscape will look like in November on Tuesday, but we did learn that this thing, at least for the Democrats, is far from over. With primaries in Louisianna, Nebraska, Washington, Maine and the Virgin Islands coming up this weekend, the candidates are looking ahead. As a matter of strategy, Clinton has all but conceded the Louisiana primary to Obama, pointing to the large African-American population, and has set her sights on Washington, Nebraska and Maine. Clinton also has her sights set on the Ohio and Texas primaries in early March.

Clinton's strategy looks farther down the road, but an Obama run could come as early as next Tuesday during the Potomac Primaries--Virginia, Maryland and the District--where he could easily take all three and gain significant momentum going forward.