And the Republican primary contest is still wide open!
After Mike Huckabee won Iowa, John McCain won New Hampshire. And now, after John McCain won New Hampshire, Mitt Romney wins Michigan. That makes the Republican contest a three-way tie, with no clear front-runner — and the next primary, South Carolina, only three days away.
Of course, there’s no clear front-runner in the Democratic primary, either. But the wide-open nature of the Republican primary, and the lack of enthusiasm and turnout on the Republican side, is especially significant — because of what it tells us.
It tells us that the Republican Party is hopelessly divided. It doesn’t know whether it wants to be led by an old war-horse, a Southern preacher, a TV star, a serial philanderer, a libertarian or a used car salesman.
It tells us that the Republican Party is desperate. All the candidates now realize that George Bush is poison, so they’re starting to put as much distance between themselves and Bush as possible.
It also tells us that Americans are desperate for change, but they know they’ll never get real change by putting another Republican in the White House.
Yes, Mitt Romney wins the Michigan primary. And the disintegration of the Republican Party continues.