With Mitt Romney fresh off of his win in Michigan the Republican presidential candidate is preparing for the next big primary- South Carolina. Though Romney now has won the GOP primary in two states, Wyoming and Michigan, his two chief opponents who have each won one primary state, John McCain and Mike Huckabee, are in close pursuit.
So far Romney holds 42 delegate votes, while 1,191 are needed to win. Huckabee is currently second with 21, and John McCain is in a strong third position with 19. The remaining candidates, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, and Fred Thompson, are all stuck so far in the single digits, though Giuliani is expected to pick up steam in the southern state primaries. A total of 92 delegates have voted thus far.
After South Carolina’s January 26th primary it’s on to Florida’s on January 29. Florida will be a key battleground as there are 57 delegate votes up for grabs in a winner-take-all state. Fox News cites Romney’s strong economic message for his win in Michigan, McCain’s stand on national security issues for his win in New Hampshire, and Huckabee’s social and religious emphasis for his win in Iowa. It’s anybody’s guess which message will resonate in the two southern states, though Romney has stated that he does not expect to do well in the south.
Because none of the candidates have as yet emerged as a party favorite, talk has also started circulating about the possibility of a truly contested GOP contest in which the Republican nominee wouldn’t be selected until the party’s convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul on September 1. If it comes to that the Republican nominee will have a tough time raising funds and combating a potentially better-prepared Democratic challenger in November.
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