The American Spectator

Whether any individual poll is predictive or not, the totality of those today should cheer the McCain team. He leads Huckabee nationally in CNN by 13 pts., is ahead in Michigan, leads Rudy by 8 pts in FLORIDA (according to Survey USA )and is within 3 pts of Rudy ( also Survey USA ) in NY. (Yes, NY.) It is not that he has anything in the bag or that others can't find a path to win but he has momentum, has put himself in the position to win the next two primaries (perhaps the next three) and is probably in better financial shape than most of his rivals. If anyone has a shot he will need to disrupt the storyline, create an issue or reason for voters to think twice and find a place to win. Could Romney win Michigan? Yes. Could Thompson win SC? Yes. But both are behind and if neither figures a way to change the equation I agree McCain will be hard to stop. All that said, McCain has to maintain excitement, turn out the vote and hope an news altering moment doesn't occur.

I would think it a good idea however to turn down the hectoring about who is and who is not "conservative." I find it entirely unbecoming and counterproductive for partisans to dart about with the conservative hymnal, rendering judgment on who is and is not "conservative." Thompson seems to have the knack of civilly making his arguments, contrasting his opponents views' and leaving the name calling to others.