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AP Photo/Carlos OsorioCarole Mikita reporting
Mitt Romney's win in yesterday's Michigan primary has many on the Republican side reanalyzing the strategies and the issues. Tonight, Eyewitness News has reaction from Utah's top pollsters on what happened and where the candidates go from here.
2008 may be the year that changes the way Americans elect a president. Even though political pundits and reporters continue to say "this is the state that's a must win" for one candidate or another, both the Democratic and Republican races remain wide open.
"Let's take this campaign to South Carolina, and Nevada, and Florida, and all over the country. Let's take it all the way to the White House!" Romney told supporters in his victory speech last night.
Romney's win in Michigan gives him momentum into this weekend's contests and assures voters he'll stay in the race through Feb. 5.
"It was a very exciting election in the state of Michigan and a real revival for Mitt Romney," said political pollster Dan Jones.
After four contests--Iowa, New Hampshire, Wyoming and Michigan--Romney leads with 42 delegates, Huckabee has 32, and McCain has 13. But it's just the beginning because a Republican presidential candidate needs 1,191 to win the party nomination.
The divide is what makes this contest so interesting. Huckabee got the evangelical vote in Iowa, McCain got the Independents in New Hampshire, and Romney held the regular Republicans and gained some evangelicals in Michigan.
"That may well be a harbinger as he goes forward. As people get to know him, the Mormon issue, as it's being frequently described in the media, may not be as big an issue as it was in Iowa," political pollster David Magleby said.
Two big contests come this Saturday: the Nevada caucuses and the South Carolina primary for the Republicans. McCain and Huckabee are running one and two there, but Utah actually has more Republican delegates than South Carolina. "We have 36 delegates, and when Utah votes on Feb. 5, it is winner take all. So, that's a real plum," Jones said.
"I think the voters in Utah are gonna get a real choice on Feb. 5. We've never had that in the era of presidential nomination politics. It always came for us after it was decided. We're gonna get a real vote," Magleby said.
Even though it's called Super Tuesday and many are saying Feb. 5 will decide the presidential race, that's not necessarily so. It could continue this way on into the summer and the political conventions.
