Pins and Needles: Temporary Relief

Joel:

Super Tuesday Map In The Brain

3: p.m.

Here in DC, just about every conversation begins with a single word:

"Predictions?"

In about an hour that will change, to "Heard any exits?"

You're required to have a prognostication of some kind, or else face immediate social exile and/or public stoning. You can't just say, "We'll see what the voters decide," as that's the moral equivalent of giving up. If you can't speculate recklessly, THEY WIN.

A good all-purpose response is, "Don't overlook the Ron Paul factor." You can also impress with a highly specific, but incomprehensible answer, such as, "I'm struck by how well Romney's doing in California's 48th congressional."

There is, however, a data point that we can examine at this hour. It's the result from West Virginia, and it is portentous. According to the website of the West Virginia Republican Convention, "Because West Virginia will know its results by midday, it gives West Virginia an enormous impact on the presidential race in 2008. "

The result: Huckaboom 2.

Yes, Mike Huckabee is back, and with his West Virginia momentum he's unstoppable. He hadn't won so much as a game of Minesweeper since the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses, but today he edged out Mitt Romney, and won the entire slate of 18 delegates, at some sort of convention in Charleston. The West Virginians picked Huckabee even though Romney left Long Beach after midnight and flew all through the wee hours of the morning in order to speak to them at breakfast time. Romney shoulda stayed wheels-down in Long Beach.

The rest.