Notes on the South Carolina primary

Well, the final tally was McCain 33% to Huckabee 30%. Pretty tight race.

A couple of observations for those of you who are unfamiliar with the process in the Palmetto State.

1. They let ANY registered voter participate in today's "Republican" primary, including Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, Communists, Fascists, Monarchists, Anarchists . . . whatever. Didn't matter. As long as you had a valid registration.

2. A large chunk of McCain voters were from these non-Republicans. So, he did to Huckabee in SC what he did to Romney in NH, thwarting true Republican opinion by encouraging outsiders to muddy the waters. I give him credit where credit is due, but his successes in these two states were not won with a majority of Republican votes.

Ok, enough sour grapes. It is clear the GOP is still engaged in some soul-searching here. Who will be our standard bearer in '08 is still an open question. But, I don't think there can be any question that John McCain should NOT be that person.

* He voted against the Bush tax cuts of 2002.

* He partnered with liberal Russ Feingold to legislate against free speech.

* He advocates pardoning 10,000,000 illegal immigrants.

* He was one of the Keating Five.

Let's hope Floridians and Super Tuesday voters keep these facts in mind when they go vote. I think some Republicans-only primaries will yield some truer results of what the party faithful actually believe.

And, I'm still hopefully optimistic that verdict will be Mike Huckabee!