The Michigan results
The Michigan primary results yesterday are being portrayed as a big win for Mitt Romney over John McCain and Mike Huckabee, but I'm not sure what they prove beyond the fact that Romney can claim favorite son status here. His father, George, was a popular governor of Michigan from 1963-69, and his mother, Lenore, ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1970. Romney won 38.9 percent of the Republican vote, McCain received 29.7 percent, Huckabee, 16.1 percent, and Ron Paul, 6.3 percent. Turnout was said to be light because of bad weather.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Dennis Kucinich were the only candidates in the race, Barack Obama and John Edwards having honored the Democratic National Committee's request for them to withdraw after the Michigan Legislature moved up the primary date. Their supporters were urged to cast votes for uncommitted delegates instead. Clinton won 55.4 percent of the vote to 39.9 percent for uncommitted and 3.7 percent for Kucinich. Clinton actually lost narrowly to Uncommitted in two counties, Washtenaw, which includes liberal Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, and Emmet at the northern tip of the Lower Penninsula.
Ottawa County, where I grew up, gave Huckabee 24 percent of the Republican vote, his third-highest percentage in the state after St. Joseph and Shiawassee counties, which each gave him 25 percent of their vote. Ottawa's percentage for Huck is probably a reflection of the high number of conservative and evangelical Christians there. Romney carried the county with 35 percent while McCain polled 30 percent.
If all this sends any particular message to you, let me know in the Comments section.