After picking up heavy support in the southeast while struggling in other regions on Super Tuesday, many critics wrote Mike Huckabee's campaign off as dead.
With Gov. Mitt Romney now out of the race for the Republican nomination, Huckabee appears to have picked up the conservative votes that the Massachussets governor once controlled, allowing him to move in on Sen. John McCain's considerable lead.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, Huckabee picked up two of the three states that were up for grabs and also drew strong support in Washington state, though he appears to have lost to rival McCain.
More important than the states he won, Huckabee proved himself capable of attracting conservative voters in states that lie outside of the 'Bible Belt.'
With the delegate totals not complete from Saturday's elections, McCain has 714 delegates, Huckabee has 217 and Ron Paul has 16. The total necessary for the Republican nomination is 1,191.
John McCain [has] got a lot of work to do to get significant factions of the Republican party solidly behind him. Kansas GOP Chairman
"I won't drop out until at least that [McCain passes 1,191 delegates] happens, then we'll see," he said at a news conference. He pointed out that his success may be in part to recent fund raising efforts saying that "We raised more than a quarter of a million dollars in 24 hours online yesterday."
Kansas Caucuses
With 60 percent of the vote, Huckabee was victorious in the winner-takes-all caucuses, giving him all of the state's 36 delegates.
McCain finished with 24 percent of the vote and Paul took 11 percent.
Exit polls conducted by various companies for the Associated Press indicate that Huckabee picked up a significant amount of support from the demographics that Romney once controlled: conservative, Christians and affluent white males.
Kansas GOP Chairman, Kris Kobach, also said that the victory "sends a pretty significant signal to John McCain that he's got a lot of work to do to get significant factions of the Republican party solidly behind him."
Louisiana Primaries
In less convincing fashion, Huckabee won the 'Pelican State.' With 69,665 votes (43 percent,) Huckabee edged out McCain's 67,609 (42 percent.)
CNN exit polls show that born-again, evangelical Christians were 25 percent more likely to vote for Huckabee, a total that has been consistent throughout the primaries.
The only region that McCain won was the heavily populated but New Orleans area, with Cajun country and the Northern part of the state controlled by Huckabee.
Voters that disagree with the war in Iraq also heavily favored McCain, though they only made up 25 percent of the Republican turnout.
Washington Caucuses
Early on, it appeared that Paul was going to come away with his first victory of the primary season. As 40 percent of precincts had reported, he led with 49 percent of the vote, 28 percent more than Huckabee who was then in second place.
However, with 87 percent of precincts reporting, it appears that John McCain pulled away with a close victory over Huckabee and Paul in the state's caucuses, though the final 13 percent of precincts could prove otherwise.
The Arizona senator's 26 percent support puts him in first place as of now, Huckabee is second with 24 percent and Paul took 21 percent of the vote overall.
The remainder of votes were cast in favor of Romney, who withdrew from the race days ago, or were undecided.
Comments
Shannon commented, on February 10, 2008 at 2:09 p.m.:
A greater emphasis must be placed on delegates and the distribution of delegates. Some states proportion their delegates differently than other states. The layman seems to think delegates are "points," delegates are actually people representing a candidate. This is important in the case that no candidate takes all 1,191 needed to secure the convention.
What we saw in Washington was an example of this game of chess. In Louisiana we saw a similiar circumstance. McCain is hoping to win popular vote, Huckabee is trying to catch up to McCain, and Paul is taking uncommitted delegates in the hopes of winning the nomination through delegates that represent him if nobody wins the popular vote.
This is truely the perfect storm for political junkies.
Politics Editor commented, on February 10, 2008 at 2:59 p.m.:
Great point, Shannon. I'm glad you brought that up and I will write an article on that topic if the situation is still the same in a couple weeks.
The delegates are a rough estimate of where the candidates truly stand, and it's completely possible for nobody to reach the required total on the Republican side, maybe the Democrats too if everything plays out right.
This could be the perfect storm!
Robert Chapman commented, on February 10, 2008 at 5:01 p.m.:
It is a shame that the GOP winner take all delegate apportionment rules have made John McCain the presumptive nominee.
Two thirds of the GOP rank and file have voted against him in the early primaries and now the remainder don't even have the consideration of a choice as to who their party's nominee will be.
nzer commented, on February 10, 2008 at 8:33 p.m.:
now I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but does anyone else find those stats for Paul's votes a little strange? With 40 percent of precincts reported, he had 49% x 40% which is about 20% of the total vote. Then from the remaining 60% of the precincts, he only picks up a further 1%. This means that a LOT of people from the earlier reported precincts voted for him, and then almost noone from the later reporting precincts voted for him. Aint that wierd? btw was this a paper or electronic ballot?
nzer commented, on February 10, 2008 at 8:38 p.m.:
ah, only 87% of precincts had reported as this article was written... still thats only 1% for Paul from 47% of the precincts, and 20% from the first 40% of precincts. Or are these precincts vastly different in size (like 20 times larger)? Maybe that would explain it.
cons3rvative commented, on February 10, 2008 at 11:48 p.m.:
I'm proud to endorse Mike Huckabee for President of the United States. I am a conservative republican. I want to see Gov. Huckabee bring back morality to our nation. I appreciate that he does not waiver from sanctity-of-life, and that he is experienced, graceful under pressure and will create a better tax system for us with his Fairtax.
I am convinced that he is the best candidate to lead our country and create a better future for all of us. I'm fond of him for his candor, and for holding on strong to his faith during the debates. The media tried to throw him a curveball during the debates and he answered questions about his faith with pride and clarity.
Gov. Huckabee is the candidate that I can point out to my kids and say with pride "look, there is our President."
Washington State's wacky calling of the contest before it was over was an attempt to steal Huckabee's thunder of sweeping all 3 contests. Now he is being criticized for questioning why they would call a winner with only 87% precincts reporting!!!In addition, Ron Paul did really well in Washington and the news won't report that either. It seems the media has no love for Huckabee or Paul no matter how well they do. I encourage everyone to discover where Gov. Huckabee stands on key issues. www.mikehuckabee.com
thankfully WE elect our nominee and the media can only report it! Vote Huckabee!
mark commented, on February 11, 2008 at 7:26 a.m.:
Huckabee=CFR member
Ron Paul = limited gov.,sound money,restore personal liberty
He will bring all 580,000 troops home around the globe.
Politics Editor commented, on February 11, 2008 at 9:20 a.m.:
Nzer,
The precincts varied, some were paper and some were electronic from what I understand.
Also, the later reporting precincts were Seattle, Spokane and Bellevue (three of the five biggest cities in WA), so yes, the populations were vastly different by precinct.
I do understand where you're coming from, though. 50 percent of votes in parts of the state, 1-4 percent in the rest does seem a little off. If there was a scandal, though, I'm sure Ron Paul would force the issue.
Kate commented, on February 11, 2008 at 1:19 p.m.:
From what I heard this morning Huckabee is disputing the WA results. According to him they called the election for McCain when the results reached 87% (?) and quit counting - that couldn't be right could it? Anyway, he's supposed to be investigating it.