Romney pulls in 39% of the vote compared to McCain's 30%
From the NY Times:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran as a son of Michigan though he left the state nearly 40 years ago, won a commanding victory Tuesday in the Republican primary here with a message aimed at voters deeply anxious about the state’s ailing economy.
Mr. Romney defeated his principal rival, Senator John McCain of Arizona, by winning a clear plurality of Republicans and conservatives, who turned out in greater numbers than they had in the 2000 primary, which Mr. McCain won.
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With 97 percent of the electoral precincts reporting, Mr. Romney had 39 percent of the vote, compared with 30 percent for Mr. McCain and 16 percent for Mr. Huckabee. Ron Paul, the antiwar congressman from Texas, came in fourth with 6 percent of the vote.
Mr. Romney’s victory here means three different Republican candidates have won each of the first three major contests. The race moves to South Carolina and Nevada this weekend with no clear front-runner and two credible candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, and former Senator Fred D. Thompson of Tennessee, yet to seriously contest a state.
Katon Dawson, the Republican chairman in South Carolina, declared the race for the party’s nomination wide open.
With Romney winning his first serious victory its looking like there will be no clear GOP front runner going into Super Tuesday. I don't see Romney winning any of the primaries prior to then. I think SC will be a toss up between McCain and Huckabee and Romney is polling fourth in NV. That means that no candidate will have any perceived momentum prior to Super Tuesday. That suggests that those primary wins may well be split along regional (and religious) lines. That scenario ultimately would lead to the thing Captain Ed says the GOp fear most. A brokered convention.
McCain and Romney in 08 anyone?
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