Hey folks, I haven’t been writing much lately because I’ve been volunteering my extra time for Senator McCain down here in advance of Tuesday’s Florida primary.

If you’re looking for news, check out my main blog at Conservative Pulse as that’s where I’ve been spending most of my online time.

Now that the campaign is turning to Florida, it looks like that state’s newspapers are turning on to the John McCain message.

Florida newspapers are issuing their endorsements in the presidential primary race, and the big winners are John McCain and Barack Obama.  The Tampa Tribune became the first major paper to issue endorsements last week, picking the two senators in their respective races.

This morning, the Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel and Gainesville Sun all went for McCain!!

Well, we won South Carolina… and it seems like Senator McCain may finally be the media’s national front-runner again.  With a 33%-30% victory over Mike Huckabee, it becomes a clear contest of John McCain vs. a pack of also-ran candidates in Florida and on Super Tuesday.

We may not win every race from here on out, but the odds look very good that John McCain will be the Republican nominee.

Well, Michigan turned out about how the polls had predicted.  We did well and we won some delegates, and now the fight moves onward.  A win in South Carolina will make John McCain an unstoppable force and practically secure the Republican nomination for him.  We must make sure this happens.

Ever since the SC primary has moved up to be the first in the South contest, they’ve had a pretty good record.  Every candidate who has won in South Carolina has gone on to take the nomination of the party.

And then on to Florida, Maine, and Super Tuesday!

It’s his home state.

His dad was the governor for many years.

If Mitt Romney can’t win in Michigan… how can he possibly continue his campaign on to South Carolina and Florida?  That’s what the media seems to be agreeing on here.  Win or die for Mitt Romney… that’s the bottomline.

And he may very well win.  Polls have put Romney slightly ahead of McCain… and Democrats (including the DailyKos) are pushing for their voters to cross party-lines and vote Romney in order to create chaos for Republicans.

But it doesn’t matter that much if he wins.  It is absurd to celebrate winning your homestate, where your dad was governor, and where you’ve outspent your opposition by a 7-1 margin.  A Romney win means that he can continue on until February 5th, but he won’t be the nominee.

A McCain win would likely cement John McCain as the new national front-runner and almost-certain GOP nominee.

Let’s hope for victory, but prepare for the real battle…. South Carolina.

Following John McCain’s surprise victory in New Hampshire, the first post-primary polls have started to come out in South Carolina. The numbers have got to be concerning to supporters of Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson. Both of those candidates have essentially staked their campaigns on a win in the first Southern primary to boost them into contention by Super Tuesday.

A Rasmussen poll taken two days before New Hampshire showed Mike Huckabee in the lead in South Carolina: 28 Huckabee, 21 McCain, 15 Romney, 11 Thompson, 10 Giuliani.

Rasmussen’s latest poll, taken the day after New Hampshire voted, shows a significant shift: 27 McCain, 24 Huckabee, 16 Romney, 12 Thompson, and 6 for Giuliani.

A Fox News poll taken at the same time showed McCain with 25% over Huckabee with 18% and Romney with 17%.

The Real Clear Politics polling average (the poll of polls) still shows Huckabee ahead in South Carolina, but these latest numbers suggest a surge in support for Senator McCain.

Bob Novak is now calling John McCain the likely nominee…

During four final days of campaigning after the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire’s Republican primary was one-on-one between Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Because the winner would become the party’s most likely nominee, McCain’s decisive victory puts him in a commanding position after being counted out for much of the last year.

McCain won a majority of registered Republican voters here as well as New Hampshire independents who voted in the GOP primary (as he did in 2000 when he swamped George W. Bush). Romney’s attacks on McCain’s liberal immigration policies were popular with Republican voters, but did not resonate with McCain’s independent base.

Diminished by losing in Iowa, Romney entered the final weekend in New Hampshire some five percentage points behind. His strategists hoped the immigration issue would erase that lead. In fact, accusing McCain of advocating amnesty for illegal aliens had no more impact in New Hampshire than it had in Iowa.

Romney’s loss here was devastating. He planned to boost his modest national ratings with wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, where he led in spending, organization and polls.

At the beginning of December, Romney enjoyed twice as much New Hampshire support as McCain. The senator’s local supporters attribute his comeback to the endorsement here of independent Democratic Sen. Joseph Lieberman. But what propelled McCain’s victory was Romney’s loss in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The onetime Baptist preacher relied on Iowa evangelicals, an asset lacking in New Hampshire.

The next two weeks are filled with promise for McCain and peril for Romney. Michigan, where Romney grew up (the son of Gov. George Romney), is the next primary, on Jan. 15. But McCain is popular in Michigan, where he defeated Bush in 2000. Another loss for Romney probably ends his candidacy.

South Carolina comes after that on Jan. 19, with Huckabee running in his first Southern primary. But there are substantially fewer evangelicals in South Carolina than Iowa. McCain’s South Carolina campaign is led by Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has recruited much of the 2000 organization.

If McCain wins South Carolina, it will be up to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his late-starting, big-state strategy. Giuliani leads in Florida’s Jan. 29 primary and the California, New York and New Jersey tests Feb. 5. But those leads may not survive McCain’s surge.

Yesterday saw a surprisingly strong showing for Senator McCain in the Iowa Caucuses.   Despite spending virtually no money or time in the state, a late surge pushed McCain to 13% and created a virtual tie for third place with Fred Thompson.

Meanwhile, a new poll out in New Hampshire shows Senator McCain moving into a small lead in the state that will hold the nation’s first primary on Tuesday.

The Detroit News has just officially endorsed Senator McCain for President.  Michigan is an extremely important state that follows quickly after New Hampshire, so this is quite important…

The new year begins with the nation on the doorstep of political transition. We look with keen anticipation toward a pragmatic presidency that will set a course of national purpose and prosperity, a presidency that will restore the government’s financial discipline and revive America’s effectiveness on the global stage.

The successor to George W. Bush will face challenges domestic and foreign that will demand thoughtful and inspired leadership. Michigan’s economic disorder looms largest among our concerns, complicated by international trends that have diminished the vitality of our industrial base. It matters much to this state who occupies the White House.

Iowa kicks off the presidential nomination process this evening, but Michigan’s place on the primary calendar is just around the corner, Jan. 15. We would like to have made endorsements in both party contests, but many of the Democratic candidates have chosen to skip Michigan, leaving us to focus on the Republican race.

Read the rest of the endorsement by clicking here…

Tonight is Iowa Caucus night and the excitement is building by the hour.  We are in the best position of any campaign tonight as we’ve essentially won the expectations game.   If we finish fifth… there’s no penalty because no one is expecting us to do well.  If we finish fourth, we’re winners and can go on to dealing with New Hampshire and Michigan.

If somehow we finish in third place… then Senator McCain will be tonight’s “other big winner” and the bounce into New Hampshire will make him even more unstoppable.

Unlike next week, when we have to win New Hampshire… we can just relax tonight with the pressure off. 

If you want to hope for anything else tonight, besides a nice fourth or third place showing… let’s all hope that Mike Huckabee knocks Mitt Romney out of this thing once and for all. 

It’s going to be a good night!