Results Soon...

Word is that Romney is doing well, McCain second, and Huckabee a distant third. Pooh. This means that the "favorite son" aspect of the Romney candidacy did resonate, as well as his promise to take a special care for Michigan. That means people in Michigan do find him authentic. Byron York had this take last night:

The Corner
Mitt Romney, Behind the Wheel in Michigan [Byron York]

Good morning from Detroit. I have a new story up about Mitt Romney's could-be-last-stand here. Watching Romney campaign, there's something different here from his appearances in Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney is often criticized for telling people what he thinks they want to hear. Then, when people hear him, they think Romney doesn't really believe what he says, and they don't vote for him. But in Michigan, when Romney tells people what he thinks they want to hear, he is also saying what he truly believes, because he is talking mostly about his true love, the automobile industry:
....if Romney is ever able to get over the authenticity issue, it will be here.

Byron York is a pretty reasonable guy. If he's right I was wrong. Oh well, the season has already produced what I most wanted, a failure of Romney in the first two contests, so that he couldn't buy a slingshot to the nomination. I had said that would be enough, and that after that it would be relatively a fair fight. Sure did want to see him knocked out though.

The business with Hillary being actually challenged by Obama is pure gravy. Three months ago I didn't even imagine that possible.

There will be some results in an hour or two....

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12:10 AM
Okay, I fess up. I'm dumb as a stump. --This from Jay Cost:

Last night, the McCain campaign was spinning its loss as a consequence of the fact that Romney is a "favorite son." There is evidence to support this claim. 41% of respondents in the exit poll reported that Romney's ties to the state were important factors in their vote choice. Romney won thosevoters decisively, 56% to 16%...

And:

Another factor of critical importance in Romney's victory was the economy. Romney's message in the last few days was tailored to the economic concerns of Michigan. It seemed to work. In New Hampshire, McCain won voters who said the economy was their most important concern, 41% to 21%. In Michigan, Romney won them, 41% to 29%....

Of course, Michigan voters were more concerned about the economy than others. For instance, 31% of New Hampshire exit pol respondents listed the economy as their primary concern, but in Michigan it was a whopping 55%.... [Romney] ran on an explicit promise to revitalize the auto industry.

So, the really big thing was that he was a favorite son, and being such, was believed in his pitch that he would dedicate himself to bring back the auto industry. Totally obvious. Where there's state pride, there's no judgment. Anybody with a brain would have recognized that.

The Cost article is more complex than what I've picked for emphasis, still, the thing I totally overlooked was the favorite son status coloring every other judgment. This was lack of good sense on my part. --I think if Romney hadn't been embarrassed in the first two states, Michiganders would not have felt such a need to support him now. They were voting for their own pride as much as in affection for Mitt. I know this kind of thing happens, but I just didn't think of it. I was too caught up in my own concept that his loss in Iowa and New Hampshire --the defeat of his stated intent-- had established him as a failure. But perhaps it was this very failure that compelled many in Michigan to vote for him, so that their state would not be embarrassed by his embarrassment.

But this is a one shot deal. True, a win is a win is a win, and he has now reestablished viability --but the affection, the salvaging of wounded state pride, the particular economic distress, the particular suitability he has to address concerns of the auto industry-- that won't happen again. --And fundamentally he was running only against McCain, Huckabee having put in only about one day campaigning, and McCain ran a blunt, in fact offensive campaign, with his "Green" orientation basically telling Detroit to shove it. That singular political ineptitude isn't something he'll so purely face again either.

So anyway, Mitt is onward, but I don't believe with force... But there still is Super Tuesday, when he can buy a lot more ads than anyone else...?