Here We Go Again

The Democrats are having a relaxed and leisurely primary season in comparison to the Republicans. The GOPers jump into their fifth contest on Saturday as Republicans in South Carolina go to the polls. They already had a Wyoming contest ahead of Democrats, who will caucus there on March 8, and they had an active primary in Michigan earlier this week up against the Democratic vote that was mostly ignored by the candidates. South Carolinians will have to endure another week of Democratic campaign ads, since that party doesn't hold its primary until January 26. Both parties caucus in Nevada on Saturday.

So will South Carolina shed any new light on identifying a Republican frontrunner? Somebody will win, but don't count on a breakthrough for anybody. McCain has seen his lead in the last few days shrink and disappear as Huckabee gains ground. Apparently that fried squirrel nostalgia is working well for him. Me, I'm rooting for Thompson. He hasn't won anything yet, and South Carolina may well be his last stand. He's apparently hoping that voters there will respond to a fellow Southerner. When he didn't seem to be making inroads into New Hampshire, he withdrew in order to put all his eggs in the South Carolina basket. He's not currently a frontrunner, but unless he pulls an upset out of his hat, I suspect he'll be on the first train back to Hollywood, where he'll again be able to say, "I'm not a successful, charismatic politician, but I play one on TV." Romney has similar numbers to Thompson, so he'd probably better enjoy his frontrunner status while it lasts for another couple of days. Of course, Romney may be able to use his bounce from Michigan to walk away with the Nevada caucuses, but depending on how well he does in South Carolina as well, he'll likely return to his position of just another contender.