Mitt Romney

The Utah headlines this morning on the presidential race are accurate but deceptive. The Salt Lake Tribune declares Clinton, McCain and Romney victories. Romney garnered 51 percent of the Nevada caucus vote, about 22,000 votes compared to some 6,000 or 14 percent for Ron Paul. Romney faced no competition in Nevada. Declaring a Romney win in Nevada is tantamount to declaring Clinton the winner in the Jan.15 Michigan primary, where no other democrats were even listed on the ballot. Romney was doubtless angling for a respectable third in South Carolina, but allowed himself to be edged out by the somnolent, slow-talking Southern Fred Thompson.

The presidential race is a combo of political chess and political billiards. Winning and losing depends upon positioning on the table. If Fred Thompson had dropped out a week ago, his likely supporters would probably have gravitated to Mike Huckabee, who then would have beaten McCain in South Carolina. McCain's three point South Carolina win was pivotal. If he had lost, he would probably have been finished. South Carolina and New Hampshire were open contests; independents could vote. That is not the case in Florida on Jan. 29 and most of the 22 states that hold primaries on Feb. 5, such as New York and California. It still remains to be seen whether McCain can win a plurality of the GOP vote.

Like Obama, Romney is arguing that he can change Washington. But that is a difficult argument for a Republican to make when the sitting President is a member of his own party and Republicans have controlled Congress until 2006. Romney rarely describes what he did as governor. For example, he could boast about the bill he signed mandating health insurance coverage for everyone in Massachusetts.