Or so say the winners and losers of the New Hampshire primary. But this year's a little different.
In Michigan, local Republicans and Democrats have moved their primaries forward in order to steal a march on the Palmetto State. National party HQs were not impressed, penalising the Michiganders by cutting the state delegation to the respective party conventions: by half in the case of the Republicans; to zero in the case of the Democrats.
As a result the Democrat primary is a non-contest, with all the main candidates (apart from Hillary Clinton) taking their names off the ballot. The Republican race still matters, with Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee all in contention (in that order).
McCain and Huckabee can afford to lose, but not Romney. This is his native state and he's spent a lot of money there. If he doesn't win, he might as well save his cash and pull out out the race. That would be a good result for the GOP which has a surfeit of candidates. With any luck, Saturday's South Carolina primary will also thin out the field by seeing off Fred Thompson who needs a good result to remain viable.
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