Overall thoughts: Nobody’s going to win this quick. Which is good news if you don’t live in an early primary state; you have a better chance of having a say in this primary with your vote than in many years.
John McCain: You’re sitting pretty. Enjoy it; this was a major, hard-fought victory. I think you’ve got to follow it up with a win in Michigan, though, and while you should get a nice bump out of tonight, it will be a tough fight. For you and Romney, this is like something out of Mad Max: Two men enter, one man leaves. If you lose Michigan, you’re doing okay in South Carolina, but it’s far from a sure win. Florida’s looking somewhere between ”meh” to pretty good. If next Tuesday night, you demonstrate that tonight wasn’t a fluke or a special bond with the Granite State, you’ll be well on your way to the nomination.
Mike Huckabee: Third place in New Hampshire is pretty darn respectable. Apparently it’s on to South Carolina for you, and I’m wondering about the wisdom of that. I’d be interested to see how you played in rural Michigan. Still, it’s probably going to be an all-out slugfest between McCain and Romney. Like I said after the Iowa caucuses, the biggest challenge right now is building that national organization. Even if you win South Carolina, you’re in a tough spot in Florida (think about it, trail by one percent, you get no delegates) and you can’t put your personal touch on audiences in 20 states.
Mitt Romney: You’re in tough shape, no two ways about it. But you’re not dead. Michigan is huge; I think you have to win outright, otherwise you become the King of Silver Medals. But the dark cloud over your head has some silver linings – you still lead in the delegate race, you’ve got the money to compete in every state, and you can run a 20 state campaign on February 5. Having said that, you’ve got to stop going negative — er, sorry, “contrast” on your opponents. Not only are you possibly kneecapping an eventual GOP nominee, it’s just not helping you.
Rudy Giuliani: Hey, fourth place, a mini-moral victory there for ya. Now, I like the Florida strategy as much as the next guy, but I hope you’ve got a few tricks up your sleeve to keep the lead in the Sunshine State. On Super Duper Tuesday, you’ve got all of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut’s delegates pretty much wrapped up already, so you’re quietly set to spring back into the race next month. But can you expand beyond those states?
Oh, one other small good break tonight. You can start running as the Hillary Slayer again.
Fred Thompson: Eh, you were never going to compete in New Hampshire anyway. Although I’ve got to tell you – finishing with fewer total votes than Dennis Kucinich is going to be embarrassing. On to South Carolina, where it’s go big or go home.
Ron Paul: I’m baffled. Presuming that the numbers hold, how did you do better in Iowa than you did in New Hampshire?
Duncan Hunter: Don’t blame yourself. Blame corporate media executives in glass offices overlooking Central Park who have not worn the uniform and whose sons aren’t currently serving in the military.