U.S. ELECTIONS | Guide to the 2008 Election
22 January 2008
Mitt Romney, John McCain Win Big Republican Races
Clinton beats Obama narrowly in Nevada on Democratic side
Washington -- After a week with three nominating contests spread across the country, Republicans Mitt Romney and John McCain won their party's latest races. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton came off with another narrow victory.
Following his second-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, most political experts believed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney needed a win to stay competitive. He earned such a victory in the January 15 Michigan primary. Romney connected with voters by focusing on economic issues in a state facing severe financial troubles.
"Only a week ago, a win looked like it was impossible," Romney told his supporters, "but then you got out and told America what they needed to hear … Michigan heard and Michigan voted tonight."
Romney, who grew up in Michigan where his father once was governor, received 39 percent of the vote, followed by Arizona Senator John McCain with 30 percent. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee finished third.
Romney achieved another victory four days later. On January 19, South Carolina Republicans headed to the polls in their primary as Nevada Republicans held caucuses. While most Republicans campaigned in South Carolina, Romney focused on the Western state, allowing him to win easily. Romney received more than half of the votes, while the second-place finisher, Texas Representative Ron Paul, received only 14 percent.
The South Carolina primary was seen by many as a battle between McCain and Huckabee. McCain defeated Huckabee by three percentage points. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson placed third. After a series of disappointing finishes, Thompson withdrew from the race January 22.
South Carolina is the first state to vote in the South region where Republicans have strong support. No Republican has won his party's nomination without winning South Carolina -- a fact McCain knew firsthand, having lost the state in a close contest to George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential primary.
"Thank you, South Carolina, for bringing us across the finish line first in the first-in-the-South primary," McCain said. "You know, it took us a while, but what's eight years among friends?" the senator joked.
McCain said that despite his victory, "there are some tough contests ahead."
The next such contest is the January 29 Florida primary, where former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been campaigning heavily over the past few weeks. Giuliani has not done well in the first contests, but that was expected as he has focused his efforts on winning Florida, believing that a victory there will propel him to big wins on February 5, when more than 20 states hold races.
With three Republicans having won primaries or caucuses and Giuliani campaigning heavily in Florida, there is still no clear front-runner.
DEMOCRATS FACE OFF IN NEVADA
There was a Michigan Democratic primary on January 15 as well, but it received little attention from the candidates. The Democratic Party had mandated that only certain states could hold nominating contests prior to February 5. Michigan was not one of these states.
When the state opted to move its primary to January, the Democratic Party responded by stripping the state of its delegates to the national convention. Along with some other Democratic candidates, Illinois Senator Barack Obama removed his name from the ballot.
The only major candidate left on the ballot, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, won the state with 55 percent of the vote. Forty percent of Michigan Democrats voted "uncommitted" meaning they did not support any of the candidates on the ballot.
Because the major Democratic candidates pledged not to campaign in Michigan and the South Carolina Democratic primary is not until January 26, the candidates spent much of the past week focusing on Nevada, which held party caucuses on January 19.
The Nevada race was a close and contentious one between Clinton and Obama, but Clinton recorded a narrow victory. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards finished a distant third, with about 4 percent of the vote.
In the days before the caucuses, union members campaigned for both candidates, resulting in a last-minute legal case. A teachers union that endorsed Clinton asked a court to shut down caucus sites at nine casinos. The union argued that holding caucuses in the casinos gave an unfair advantage to supporters of Obama. Many casino employees are members of the Culinary Workers Union which endorsed Obama.
The court ruled January 17 that holding caucuses at the casinos was fair, since the Democratic Party picked the locations, and the caucuses went on as scheduled.
While Clinton won the popular vote and therefore the U.S. media considers her the victor, the Obama campaign said he likely will earn more delegates to the national convention when Nevada officially awards them this spring. This is because of strong support Obama received in rural areas. Similar to the Electoral College, which uses proportional representation to divide up electoral votes, Nevada Democrats use a system that weighs rural votes more heavily.
With the close Nevada race, Clinton and Obama remain in a tight contest as they focus on winning the upcoming South Carolina primary. Florida Democrats also vote January 29, but like Michigan, Florida was penalized for holding an early primary and will award no delegates.
