...And Mitt Romney Makes Three

It was a good day to be Mitt Romney.

On Jan. 15, 2008, the former Massachussetts governor finally got the gold for which he had been battling so desperately. More importantly, perhaps, Romney moved on to the South Carolina caucuses with a spring in his step, a monkey off his back and "Big Mo" on his side for the first time in months. Momentum had not been Romney's friend in the days before Michigan's primary.

"Only a week ago," he admitted, "a win looked like it was impossible."

But just how important is Big Mo these days? It didn't help former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee win New Hampshire after he took Iowa, and it didn't help Arizona Sen. John McCain win Michigan after he took New Hampshire. McCain was still leading the overall race by more than nine points, according to this poll at RealClearPolitics.com, and three days before the voting started, he was a two-and-a-half-point-favorite in South Carolina.

McCain didn't seem surprised by the decision of Michigan voters to back Romney, even though these same voters had supported McCain eight years earlier when he ran against President Bush. Said McCain of Romney, "He's their native son. I understand."

In his December 2007 column for Conservative Politcs and Perspectives at About.com, National Constitution Party Chairman Jim Clymer expressed amazement at the lack of consensus social conservatives had when it came to the Republican presidential nomination. With three different Republicans winning the first three major elections, his amazement remains well-founded.

Expect South Carolina to continue the splinter.