Poor Mitt

Seems like our former absentee governor had a bit of a bad night tonight. I suppose it's not too early to get him a consolation gift.

It may be obvious, but the reason this hurts Mitt so much is not necessarily that he lost, but that he lost by double digits (or nearly so) to someone he outspent by 4-to-1 after laying groundwork in Iowa for nearly three years. Romney was buying favors in Des Moines before anyone outside of Arkansas ever heard of Mike Huckabee. That someone could waltz in and render all that effort moot in the last month or so leading up to the election shows how soft Romney's support really was.

Also, don't forget that Romney needed some big wins to raise his national profile before Super-Duper Tuesday next month. He doesn't have the name recognition that Giuliani, McCain and even Thompson have.

That said, Romney could pull it off. I think it may end up being McCain, since the Republicans gravitate toward the person whose "turn" it is when in doubt (See Dole, Bob). But McCain is the darling of the media and of Independents, not necessarily Republicans -- and they'll have more of a say in the nominee than anyone else. I have a hard time picturing the GOP faithful who consistantly rank "immigration" as one of their top concerns turning en masse to the candidate least in line with the Republican platform.