TWO PARTIES, TWO DISTINCT PATHS TO THE NOMINATION (Adam Nagourney, New York Times) It is hard to see how Mr. McCain can be a strong general-election candidate — particularly going up against a Democratic Party so energized — without the support of the party’s conservative wing. Assuming Mr. Huckabee is unable to wound Mr. McCain as he wounded Mr. Romney, the results on Tuesday could give Mr. McCain time now to begin trying to repair breaches. The riveting competition between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama could provide Mr. McCain some cover as he deals with this peacemaking. The picture is decidedly less auspicious for the Democrats. These were the first head-to-head contests between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama since John Edwards of North Carolina dropped out, and the results suggest that Democrats are fracturing along gender and racial lines as they choose between a black man and a white woman. Surveys of voters leaving the polls suggested a reprise of the identity politics that has so long characterized — and at times bedeviled — Democratic politics.
PARTY RULES HELP MCCAIN, ROIL RACE FOR DEMOCRATS (Paul Kane, Washington Post) In her home state of New York yesterday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton swamped Sen. Barack Obama by more than 300,000 votes, securing more than 57 percent of the popular vote. But Clinton won only 139 of the delegates at stake, while the Illinois senator won 93 delegates of his own, according to preliminary state party estimates. This same pattern played out in states all across the nation in yesterday’s Super Tuesday primary for Democrats, who awarded their delegates based on a complex formula of apportioned votes. Despite Clinton’s triumphs in the states with the largest batch of delegates, Obama still secured enough votes to get a sizable chunk of delegates. He also won large victories in some smaller states. The complex rules meant that the Democratic race for the presidential nomination remained muddled yesterday, allowing the battle to persist until late spring and possibly until the August convention.
DEMOCRATS’ VOTERS DISPLAY A RACIAL DIVIDE (Amy Goldstein, Washington Post) The results of preliminary exit polls in nine key states indicate that Obama attracted the support of two-thirds to nine-tenths of black voters, except in Clinton’s home state of New York. That pattern suggests that the first-term Illinois senator’s strong appeal among African Americans – first on display in the South Carolina primary last month – is more widespread. It also means that Clinton is not the automatic heir to the wide popularity her husband enjoyed among black voters as president. Yesterday’s contests, however, featured several states, including California, with large Hispanic populations, and they selected Clinton by smaller but consistent margins. The divergent choices by minority voters reflect broad issues of loyalty and identity, observers said, rather than specific differences in the candidates’ stances on issues.
AS ROMNEY FALTERS IN REPUBLICAN RACE, HUCKABEE’S DRIVE GATHERS MOMENTUM (Michael Luo and Adam Nossiter, New York Times) Even before the results were clear on Tuesday, Mitt Romney’s advisers conceded that they faced a steep climb to the nomination because of simple delegate math. But now they also have to cope with a strong competitor to their momentum. Mr. Romney and his archrival for conservative voters, Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, each won at least five states on Tuesday… Though Mr. Huckabee lacks a convincing route to the nomination, his continued presence promises to make Mr. Romney’s path much more rugged, drawing away the very conservative voters Mr. Romney had counted on to defeat Mr. McCain. Mr. Romney’s aides tried to minimize the Huckabee effect, saying it would simply delay his progress, not prohibit it.
MORE HUCK: Huckabee Complicates GOP Contest (Washington Post)
LUCK AND DEFIANCE RESCUED LIMPING MCCAIN CAMPAIGN (Elisabeth Bumiller and David D. Kirkpatrick) Mr. McCain’s big victories on Tuesday night, which gave him a commanding lead in the race for his party’s nomination, represented one of the most remarkable resurrection stories in recent American politics. How it happened has as much to do with events beyond Mr. McCain’s control — the success of the troop buildup he supported in Iraq, Rudolph W. Giuliani’s decision not to contest New Hampshire — as it does with the stubbornness of Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, to stick it out.
WILL MCCAIN MAKE NICE TO THE RIGHT? (June Krunholz, Wall Street Journal) Sen. McCain has long been famously at odds with his party’s right wing, which raises the stakes for his CPAC appearance. Some conservative commentators including Rush Limbaugh and national Evangelical Christian leaders have said they won’t endorse Mr. McCain. In a transcript of a radio interview provided by the Romney campaign yesterday, James Dobson of Focus on the Family said Sen. McCain “is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are.” A boffo performance could energize CPAC’s activists, who pay to attend the conference and in return are invited to workshops on such topics as fund-raising appearances and career planning.
