Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

Let's assume for a moment that Huckabee finishes strongly in South Carolina, thwarts the Thompson comeback and overtakes McCain. Among February 5 states with polls available, he’s still running in first in Oklahoma, Alabama and Georgia and might still win in these states regardless of what happens on Saturday, and a South Carolina win might propel him on to a surprise success in Florida. Assuming that he can then wend his way to the nomination, which is by no means certain, and perhaps hones a winning Pinkertonian-style message, is it so far-fetched to think that he would be competitive in the general election?

-- DANIEL LARISON

Democrats will be caucusing on the Vegas Strip Saturday, a Nevada court rules.

-- DAVID KURTZ

Despite all the talk of changing Washington, the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination appear to be following the time-honored Beltway tradition of keeping their high-dollar fundraising events off the candidates' official schedule and out of the public eye.

-- THE BLOTTER

I think the big lesson coming out of Tuesday's Michigan primary is that telling voters exactly what they want to hear . . . is a recipe for success.

-- BLAKE HOUNSHELL

A GOP race that goes all the way to the convention would be a huge, fascinating, and dramatic story that would direct attention away from the star-studded Clinton-Obama race in a probably beneficial way. And it would still leave the eventual winner with plenty of time to make his case to the American people. One of the great ironies of the evolution of presidential politics is that the campaign seasons have been getting longer at the very same time that the rise of cable news and the internet has made it possible for candidates to rise and fall faster than ever. Obviously, the GOP is looking at a generally adverse political climate this year so the odds favor them losing no matter what happens, but I think an extended race could easily wind up helping.

-- MATTHEW YGLESIAS

Just a day after his big win in Michigan, Mitt Romney ceded South Carolina to his rivals.

-- THE POLITICO

The media maxim, If it bleeds, it leads, does not appear to apply to the level of coverage in the presidential primaries. A study of last week's coverage shows that, despite a much more unsettled Republican primary contest, the Democrats continue to get the lion's share of media attention. And at that, only certain Democrats.

-- ED MORRISSEY

With Martin Luther King in the crosshairs, could Jews be far behind? Now identity politics (read hatred and division) is catching up with the Chosen People who are always a target of choice when blood is in the air.

-- ROBERT STEIN

I think people who use the phrase "lack of experience" should be forced to complete the sentence. I.e., "Lack of experience in doing precisely what, as compared with (the GOP nominee's) how many years' worth of superior experience in doing precisely that?" the Dems should respond. After all, does being governor of a state really prepare you better for being president than being in the Senate for however long? It's hard to compare apples and oranges. The Democrats can easily undermine this argument by pointing this out.

-- DEMOZEL

There was an ice storm in South Carolina this morning, but it was even colder inside a Staples store where a Mitt Romney press conference suddenly went sour.

-- SCOTT CONROY

I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what's different are the times. I do think that for example the 1980 was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn’t much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.

-- BARACK OBAMA

More people under 40 have sex at least once a week than vote for president once every four years.

-- FRANK LUNTZ

Back in the days when girls were girls and men were men (except when they were kidding around at USO shows, in Bohemian Grove or in prison), Republicans were Republicans and Democrats were Democrats. But in the 2008 Presidential campaign it seems like all the nominees are a bunch of political crossdressers, and I'm not just talking about Rudy Giuliani.

-- JON SWIFT

Cartoon by Pat Oliphant/Universal Press Syndicate